Some Energy Crop Case Studies – The few selected below are not intended to endorse any companies or products.
Gareth Gaunt – Owner of a 500 acre farm installed a Talbots biomass boiler and dedicated 150 acres to SRC willow. He now heats an office complex, two houses, a cottage and large outbuildings and sheds using biomass energy.
Ely Power Station – This 38MWe is the largest straw burning power station in the world, operated by EPR Ltd, and producing over 10% of the UK renewable electricity in 2003. The station takes 200,000 tonnes of biomass per year and is currently working with ADAS to set up the UK 's first Miscanthus producer group as an alternative fuel to straw.
Coppice Resources Ltd – have contracts to supply willow to a number of companies including UK Coal that are either replacing coal with willow or co-firing. They are offering contracts to new and existing growers in South Yorkshire . They currently require in excess of 100,000 oven dry tonnes of SRC per year and are in the process of preparing to plant 1000Ha of willow in South Wales for a combined heat and power project.
Co-firing Biomass at Drax Power Station – There are current plans to co-fire up to 500,000 oven dry tonnes per year of Biomass at Drax power station. This will require 100,000 odt per year from Miscanthus by 2010 (10,000 ha planned by Bical Energy) plus willow from short rotation willow coppice (currently 320ha of SRC planted by Reneable Energy Growers Ltd).
Eccleshall Biomass Ltd (Talbotts Boilers & Raleigh Hall Properties) – Plans for a 2MW generator at the Raleigh Hall Industrial Estate will provide 2,000 with electricity generated through the combustion of miscanthus will allow 170 local farms (1,700 ha within a 25 mile radius) to diversify into energy crop production.
Didcot Power Station – RWE npower will need 30,000 tonnes of energy crops per year to co-fire with coal to meet their renewable energy generation targets. Currently, contracts within a 25 mile radius are being drawn for short rotation willow coppice production with at least 3,000ha required (ESD Biomass).
Government Backed Schemes - In England £18million has been allocated to aid in the construction of 5 biomass fuelled power projects. One example of these is a 23MW biomass project fuelled by locally grown energy crops in Devon .
Some Biomass & Wood Energy Case Studies – There are lots of different biomass, non-energy crop, projects with the biomass source ranging across agricultural, industrial and forests wastes and by-products. These few selected below are not intended to endorse any companies or products.
Lockerbie Wood Burning Power Station – The UK 's 1 st Wood burning power station (E. ON , UK & Renewable Fuels Ltd), a 44MW station capable of supplying 70,000 homes has recently been given planning permission. The station will initially take 220,00 oven dry tonnes of waste wood material from a local sawmill but plans to plant 3700ha of short rotation willow coppice in Cumbria and Dumfriesshire to provide 45,000 oven dry tonnes of material in the future.
Llanwddyn project – This project was a joint initiative between Powys (now Mid-Wales) Energy Agency), Forest Enterprise, Dulas, Severn Trent Water and many other parties including a leading role by the local community. A boiler was installed at the school and community centre. The system is fuelled by forest residue wood-chip and provides heat, through district heating to over 30 of the local houses as well as to the school and community centre.
B9 Energy – supply combined heat and power units. One of their most recent projects is the 130kWe Beddington Zero Energy Zone which is a mixed housing and workshop development.
Seal uPVC products Ltd – Installed a biomass boiler in a 3,000 ft 2 building. The system is fuelled by wood waste. The company has seen a saving of £2,000 a year from both oil consumption and waste disposal.
Western Bioenergy have a proposed 13.8 MWe wood-burning biomass power plant in Port Talbot, South Wales, currently going through the planning stages with advise from Sustinable Energy Ltd, Cardiff.
National Assembly Debating Chamber – the new debating chamber in Cardiff Bay will be heated through a 360kW wood-chip or pellet burning boiler (Wood Energy Ltd). |
