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Energy giant RWE npower has said it will avoid expensive retrofits of seven of its UK plants by closing them before the end of 2023, escaping the requirements of the emissions reducing EU Industrial Emissions Directive (IED).
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The IED will come into effect in 2016 and tightens existing limits on greenhouse emissions from industry.
Power companies could either fit emissions reduction technology, such as CCS, or choose a reduced "limited life" option for plants where this is not economical.
That option allows for a total of 17 500 hours of further operation from an unmodified plant or until the end of December 2023, whichever is earlier, before final closure.
RWE npower has provisionally chosen the "limited life" option for seven of its UK plants: Aberthaw coal station; two units at Didcot B gas plant; Cheshire combined heat and power (CHP) plant; Conoco Phillips CHP; Grimsby CHP and Hythe CHP. RWE has until the end of 2015 to confirm these choices.
"We have thought long and hard about what is right for our business, our power stations, and our people," said Kevin Nix, managing director of the company's Generation UK division, in a statement.
"RWE has invested more than £5 billion ($8 billion) into new power stations for Britain in the last five years. However, power stations across Europe are finding market conditions increasingly difficult," he added.
SSE also previously announced that it would select the limited life option for two of its coal-fired power plants.