E.ON cuts Kingsnorth coal-fired power plant output

LONDON (Reuters) - Kingsnorth coal fired power plant in England cut output by almost half on Monday morning after it was invaded by environmental campaigners but operator E.ON UK insisted the reduction was a commercial decision.

Greenpeace said its campaigners stopped the conveyor belts feeding coal into the plant in Kent in an effort to starve the power station.

Three of the four 485-megawatt generation units had reduced their output to 230 MW by 1 p.m. on Monday, according to data from National Grid, while the other one was shutdown last week.

A spokesman for the UK arm of German energy giant E.ON denied the output reduction was caused by the protest, adding that there is already plenty of fuel inside the plant.

"If we so desired we could keep it running normally," he said. "It's a commercial decision."

Greenpeace is protesting over E.ON's plan to build another carbon dioxide emitting plant at the site and wants Prime Minister Gordon Brown to reject it.