UK to increase biomass use to replace coal
December 3, 2010
By Canadian Biomass
Dec. 3, 2010 – Construction begins on a 50-MW, biomass-fired combined heat and power plant in Scotland, while increasing coal costs and renewable energy certificates make biomass more attractive to UK utilities.
Construction begins on Scottish biomass CHP plant
Dec. 3, 2010 – RWE npower renewables, the
UK subsidiary of RWE Innogy, has started to build a biomass-fired combined heat
and power (CHP) plant in Markinch, Fife (Scotland). The new plant is the
biggest of its kind in the UK. The CHP plant will have an installed output of
50 MW and will be able to deliver up to 120 tonnes/hour of industrial steam. RWE
Innogy is investing about €235 million in the construction of the plant, which
will take about two years to build.
Some of the energy will supply Tullis Russel Papermakers, which currently
receiving its energy from a 60-year-old coal-fired power station. Because of
the coal plant’s age and high carbon emissions, continued operation will be
impossible for both environmental and economic reasons. The new biomass plant
will run on wood residues and green wood from sustainable forestry, allowing
carbon reductions of about 250,000 tonnes/year compared with the current
situation. The biomass project will receive approximately €9 million of
sponsorship money from the Scottish government.
RWE Innogy’s two main contractors in the construction of the facility at
Markinch are the technology group Metso (Finland) and engineering and
construction company Aker Solutions (Norway). Metso will deliver and install
the boiler system and the flue gas cleaning system, and Aker Solutions will
handle the remaining construction.
Costly coal promotes UK’s switch to biomass
By Catherine Airlie | Bloomberg
Dec. 3, 2010 – The high price of coal is
making wood pellets a viable alternative for UK power producers, but much of
the biomass would likely have to be imported. | READ MORE
Print this page
