New Tesco warehouse to be powered by biomass

The supermarket giant has signed a deal with MGT Power, the independent, biomass power company, to supply 100 per cent of it’s power to the £50 million warehouse on the Teesport Estate in the borough of Redcar and Cleveland.

The 1.2m square foot Tesco warehouse is adjacent to MGT’s 295 megawatt biomass on the Teesport Estate, a large sea port and industrial estate. Tesco will import energy directly from MGT Power’s Tees Renewable Energy Plant once the plant is operational. The biomass plant, received the go-ahead from the UK government in July this year and is on target to start commercial operations by 2012. Construction of the plant is set to commence in the first quarter of next year.

Tesco director, Keith Aughwane, said: “We are committed to reducing our carbon footprint, which includes using renewable energy wherever possible. The agreement with MGT Power will help us achieve our stretching targets to reduce our carbon emissions.”

The Tees Renewable Energy Plant will burn woodchip to generate electricity for the equivalent of 600,000 homes, 24 hours a day. The woodchip will be imported by ship from sustainable and certified forestry sources primarily from Europe and America, and this stock will be continually replenished as it is used. The station will help to meet the UK’s renewable energy target of 20 per cent by 2020, accounting for around 5.5 per cent of the renewables target, saving around 1.2million tonnes of CO2 per year.

As well as Tesco, MGT is looking to supply other businesses on the estate and is in talks with the Teeside port owners, PD Ports, to supply it with energy for its cranes.

Chris Moore, director of MGT Power said: “We look forward to working with and developing a relationship with Tesco Teesport. Supplying power to other parts of the Teesport estate is a logical move for ourselves and we are seeking further agreements with other operating facilities in the port and the immediate area.”

In August 2009, MGT Power announced plans to build a similar sized biomass plant at the Port of Tyne, which is targeted to enter commercial operation in 2014.

Earlier in the year, Tesco was awarded the Carbon Trust Standard and was named the greenest supermarket in the UK. The company has unveiled plans to build its first zero-carbon store at Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, later this year and has launched a scheme to help its customers make informed choices through its carbon labeling scheme on in-store products. However, because of the company's growth through the opening of new stores, Tesco has in fact increased its absolute carbon footprint in the last year.