Cleveland gets go-ahead for £500 million biomass plant

The Tees Renewable Energy Plant, which will cost £500 million to build and will have a 295 megawatt (MW) capacity, will be able to generate enough electricity to power 600,000 homes. It is being developed by British firm MGT Power Limited and according to the company will be one of the world’s largest-ever biomass plants and renewable energy projects.

MGT Power predicts the plant, which is due to come online in 2012, will create 600 jobs during the three-year construction period and 150 permanent jobs during the station's lifetime. 

Once operational, it will contribute about £30 million per annum to the North East's economy, supporting a further 300-400 jobs indirectly – at the same time as saving 1.2million tonnes of CO2 per year and contributing 5.5 per cent of the UK's renewable electricity target.

Biomass feedstock for the plant will be sourced from certified sustainable forestry projects in North and South America and the Baltic States, providing around 2.4 million tonnes of woodchips per annum. It is estimated the plant will produce the same amount of renewable electricity over a year as a 1,000 MW wind farm.

Chris Moore, director of MGT Power, said: "The Government's consent is welcome news as we are at an advanced stage with forestry establishment for fuel sourcing, and power plant procurement. 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.

"Other similarly-sized biomass plants are proposed in other parts of the country but our Teesport project is currently two years ahead of the pack and likely to be one of the first to be operational."  
 

David Kidney Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Department of Energy and Climate Change, added: "The Tees Renewable Energy Plant brings a range of economic and environmental benefits, not least creating new jobs at Teesport, and the use of clean technology will help reduce carbon emissions. Biomass generation, using sustainable sources, is starting to make a significant contribution to the UK's energy market and will help us reach our renewable targets."