Siemens Power Generation Group in consortium with Kvaerner Power has begun work building a turnkey biomass-fired 44 MW power plant in Lockerbie, Scotland.

The €100 million project is being developed on behalf of E.On UK, with Siemens’ share amounting to more than €50 million for the supply of an SST-800 steam turbine and the civil works, erection, and the electrical and instrumentation and control equipment. Kvaerner Power will supply the power boiler, the fuel handling system and the flue gas cleaning plant.

The Steven’s Croft scheme will use some 220,000 tonnes of fuel annually and is being supported by the Big Lottery Fund which is providing £18 million ($31 million) from its Bio-Energy Capital Grants Scheme. The plant is due for commissioning in late 2007 and will be the UK’s largest such facility.