UK biomass sector receives dual boost

The expansion of the UK's biomass sector received fresh momentum this week when the government gave the go-ahead for a major new waste-to-energy plant in Cheshire and plans were unveiled for a new wood chip-fired power plant in the North East.

Energy and climate change minister Lord Hunt announced today that the government has given the green light to plans for a 95MW waste-to-energy facility at Ince in Cheshire, which is expected to turn 600,000 tonnes of waste destined each year for landfill into energy.

Downplaying concerns raised by some local residents about the environmental impact of the plant, Lord Hunt said an independent public inquiry had ruled that the facility should be granted planning consent.

"I am satisfied that the mitigation measures to be put in place will protect the amenity of local villages," he added.

Approval for the site was granted alongside separate planning permission for a new Resource Recovery Park which will be developed adjacent to the power plant and provide recycling services to the area.

The plant is expected to provide power to the new Resource Recovery Park, with any excess energy being sold to the grid.

The decision comes just a day after London-based biomass energy developer MGT Power unveiled plans for its second large-scale wood chip-fired plant in the North East.

Following hot on the heels of its successful planning application for a 295MW wood-fired power station at Teesport near Middlesbrough capable of providing energy for an estimated 600,000 homes, the company has unveiled plans for a second of the same size to be built in North Shields, 10km east of Newcastle city centre.

The company said that subject to planning approval, it aims to have the new facility operational by 2014.

"With the government committed to more renewable electricity generation over the next decade, our Tyne biomass project, along with our consented scheme at Teesport, will make a significant contribution to the government's targets," said Chris Moore, director of MGT Power. "Large-scale biomass projects can operate at baseload and each scheme will produce in one year as much green electricity as the largest 1,000MW wind farm project."

MGT Power is now preparing a scoping document and public exhibition as it seeks to secure local support for the plans.

"Just as we did with our Tees Renewable Energy scheme, we are consulting widely from the start, both with key organisations and local people," said Moore. "We see the Tyne project as not only a major green power project for the UK, but one that will contribute positively to the local area and the North East economy, primarily in terms of local investment and employment."

The company is focusing its expansion near ports on the River Tyne as this will make it easier to import wood chips to the facilities from sustainably managed forest in North and South America and the Baltic states. It added that it would aim to source wood chips from the UK in the future, but insisted that even with wood chips being shipped to the UK, its biomass plants will deliver greenhouse gas savings of 95 per cent compared to coal-fired plants.