TOPIC 'Bioenergy' on Oct 27, 2008 (CET)
Three Biomass Plants Set For Construction in the UK
Three 300 megawatt power plants are in the planning stages near the Port of Immingham, north of the coast of Lincolnshire, in Britain. They will process biomass to make energy. Agricultural and forestry waste will be utilized to produce the power. Drax and Siemens of Germany are partnering on this project. Drax, who owns the largest coal-fired power plant in western Europe, will have 60 percent ownership in the project, while Siemens will own 40 percent. Drax will provide operation for the three renewable energy plants and Seimens will provide the technology.
A Drax spokesperson and CEO, Dorothy Thompson, noted that the investment in the three new plants would serve to provide much-needed additional energy generation in the UK, especially as old nuclear facilities and coal-fired plants are scheduled to close. Thompson compared renewable energy alternatives when opting for a biomass-fed power plant. The three plants in Immingham are anticipated to produce three times more power than a 1,000 MW wind farm, Thompson says. A biomass plant uses waste materials for its operation, while a wind farm needs a consistent wind source to operate at full capacity all the time.
Construction on the first plant is set to begin in 2010 with power generation beginning in 2014. The reason the Port of Immingham was chosen as the site is because a large amount of biomass material is expected to be imported. The Port will provide a convenient location for transport of the materials.
Drax has negatively been at the focus of environmental groups due to the fact that it is, up to this point, one of the UK’s most significant contributors of carbon dioxide emissions. The construction and utilization of these new biomass plants could turn the company’s entire business philosophy around, becoming one of Britain’s most desirable contributors of power produced by renewable energy sources. Subsidies paid to companies who take advantage of renewable energy technologies provide assistance in re-tooling their business structure to new methods and techniques.
Sherry Irvin
on behalf of the
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