All fired up – European biomass industry prepares for rapid expansion

It might be the oldest form of harnessable energy known to man, but that has not stopped the humble lump of wood enjoying something of a renaissance in recent years as governments across Europe look for a cost-effective and reliable way to curb carbon emissions.

Now the stellar growth enjoyed by the continent's emerging biomass power industry is set to accelerate further, according to a new study from German energy consultancy ecoprog and research institute Fraunhofer UMSICHT, which predicts that a new wave of wood-fired power plants in the UK and France will see biomass capacity across the region grow 50 per cent by 2013.

The study found that biomass capacity across Europe has grown 40 per cent over the past year, driven primarily by new plants in Scandinavia, Germany and Austria. It added that a further 130 plants are in the pipeline and predicted that the overall number of plants will increase by nearly 50 per cent between 2008 and 2013 to up to 1,050 plants, while generating capacity will also rise 50 per cent to about 10,000MW.

Speaking to BusinessGreen.com, report author Mark Döing said the biomass sector remained extremely attractive to investors. "It varies from country to country depending on the scale of the subsidies and tax breaks on offer," he said. "But beyond wind energy it is the most attractive form of renewable energy, particularly as it is the only renewable source that is not dependent on the weather."

He predicted that the Scandinavian countries would continue to dominate the industry, fuelled by their large timber resources. However, he added that the UK and France would also see a significant increase in biomass power capacity over the next few years. "They now have subsidies in place and have plenty of good locations for biomass plants that have not been taken advantage of," he said. " For example, almost every paper mill in Germany and Austria has a biomass plant on site, which is not the case in the UK and France."

The report concluded that the success of German feed-in tariffs in encouraging the development of small-scale biomass plants means growth in the market was likely to slow, but Döing downplayed fears that the market has already reached capacity. "Eventually there will come a point where you run out of local wood resources, and as transport is a big part of the operational costs for biomass plants, that would stop the market growing," he explained. "But no country is at that point yet."

The report came as two of Europe's largest firms underlined their interest in the burgeoning global biomass industry.