The Scottish government gave the go-ahead on Wednesday for Scottish Power's 1,000-megawatt (MW) gas-fired power plant at Cockenzie which will replace an old coal-fired station on the site, the government said in a statement.

"Natural gas is a much more efficient fuel than coal and will more than halve carbon and nitrogen dioxide emissions compared to the existing power station," the government said.

The existing 1,200-MW coal-fired plant will have to close down at the end of 2015 at the latest to comply with EU-wide legislation to shut down the region's most polluting power stations.

The new combined-cycle gas turbine power plant will reserve space to fit carbon capture technology once it is commercially and technically proven, the government said. (Reporting by Karolin Schaps; editing by James Jukwey)