UK Backs Plans for 295-MW Biomass Plant

The UK government has approved MGT Power’s proposed £500 million Tees Renewable Energy Plant, paving the way for construction to begin. When completed in late 2012, the 295-MW baseload plant in Teesport, near Middlesbrough, will be one of the largest biomass plants in the world.

The government’s consent was welcomed by MGT Power, which is at an advanced stage with forestry establishment for sourcing fuel for the wood-fired plant. “We can now mandate our banks, conclude the financing and reach agreement with our preferred technology bidders. We are moving towards an early construction start with a high degree of confidence,” said Chris Moore, director of MGT Power.

The government’s approval of the plant coincided with the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s unveiling of the “UK Low Carbon Transition Plan,” a package of policies that outline how the country will cut its carbon emissions 34% from 1990 levels by 2020. The plan forecasts that by 2020, the country will have cut its fossil fuel consumption by 19%, and that 40% of its electricity will be from low carbon sources such as “renewables, nuclear and clean coal.”

Nearly a quarter of the UK’s renewable energy target is expected to be produced by biomass plants—including projects similar in size to the Teesport plant that have been proposed for other parts of the country.

“Our Teesport project is currently two years ahead of the pack and likely to be one of the first to be operational,” said Moore. “It comes at a time when replacement UK energy generation capacity is urgently needed.” Moore added that the plant is expected to save 1.2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide per year, accounting for 5.5% of the UK’s renewable energy target.

The Tees Renewable Energy Plant’s biomass feedstock—around 2.4 million metric tons of woodchips per annum—will be sourced from sustainable forestry projects developed by the MGT team and partners in North and South America and the Baltic states. The projects will involve short rotation forestry with eucalyptus and pine trees, and short rotation coppicing, using trees like willow and poplar.

“These projects will provide clean burning woodchip, which delivers 95% greenhouse gas savings in comparison to coal or natural gas through the life cycle,” the company said.

Sources: MGT Power, UK Department of Energy and Climate Change