MGT Power Limited (MGT Power) has received consent from the British Government under Section 36 of the Electricity Act, for its GBP500 million Tees biomass energy plant, located at Teesport, UK. At 295 megawatt (MW) capacity, the plant will generate enough electricity to meet the needs of around 600,000 homes. It will save 1.2 million tonnes of CO2 per year and will account for 5.5% of the UK’s renewable electricity target. The plant will enter commercial operation in late 2012.
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.”
Moore added: “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. It comes at a time when replacement UK energy generation capacity is urgently needed. We will continue to work closely with Redcar & Cleveland Council as well as PD Ports, the owners of Teesport, Renew Tees Valley and the local Trade Unions to complete the project. Their support and commitment to the project over the last 2 years has been invaluable. ”
The Tees renewable energy plant will help to meet the Government’s environmental and renewable energy targets and add to the country’s growing need to diversify its power generation. It will create 600 jobs during the three year construction period, 150 permanent jobs during the station’s lifetime, and once operating will contribute about GBP30 million per annum into the North East’s economy, supporting a further 300-400
jobs indirectly.
David Kidney MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the UK Department of Energy & Climate Change said: “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.”
The biomass feedstock for the Tees renewable energy plant will be sourced from certified sustainable forestry projects developed by the MGT team and partners in North and South America and the Baltic States. These projects will provide clean burning woodchip, which delivers 95% greenhouse gas savings in comparison to coal or natural gas through the life cycle and will not use high quality land suitable for food crops.
The plant will use around 2.4m tonnes of woodchips per annum and will operate at base load – 24 hours a day, all year round. This means the Tees renewable energy plant will produce the same amount of renewable electricity over a year as a 1,000MW wind farm.