First Welsh commercial biomass plant opens for business

The £33 million, 14 megawatt Western Wood Energy Plant in Port Talbot should generate enough electricity to power the equivalent of 31,000 homes a year.

The plant is owned by a consortium comprising Good Energies (UK) LLP and Port Talbot-based Western Log Group operating as Western Bioenergy Ltd. It was developed by Cardiff-based international renewable energy company, Eco2 Ltd, in partnership with Western Log Group.

First Minister, Rhodri Morgan said: "This is a flagship project for Wales. It has been recognised as one of the best performing biomass sites in the UK. It provides a sustainable benefit to the local economy, not only through the people it employs on-site, but also through its commitment to using wood sourced from Wales to power it."

The Assembly Government is working on ways to increase use of bio-energy and the sustainable supply of biomass for energy generation and Morgan said the Port Talbot plant demonstrated just how serious Wales was about addressing the issues associated with climate change through sustainable technology.

The plant uses 160,000 tonnes of wood annually as fuel, the majority of which is sourced locally from Welsh forests and from by-products from the timber industries.

The project created 200 local construction jobs during its two-year build phase and now directly employs 20 permanent staff responsible for operating the plant as well as sustaining many jobs in the local timber and engineering businesses through fuel supply and maintenance activities.