Looking to a greener future

The Sembcorp Biomass Power Station is a £60 million investment in renewable energy at the Wilton International site in the Tees Valley.

The station became the UK’s first large scale ‘wood to energy’ plant when it began full commercial operations in October 2007 and uses 300,000 tonnes of wood a year as its biomass fuel.

Taking wood from a variety of sustainable sources in the UK, the plant is capable of generating around 30 MW of electricity – enough to power a small town.

Forty per cent of the total energy required is derived from recycled timber – much of which was previously sent to landfill, with around 20 per cent of the energy total coming from wood from managed forests in the north east, sawmills and a specially grown energy crop (see wood fuel supply section).

It is helping in the battle against climate change by saving 200,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions a year compared to a fossil fuel power station with a similar capacity - the equivalent to the CO2 emissions of 67,000 vehicles a year.

Around 1,000 jobs were sustained during a two year construction period and the facility has created 15 permanent new jobs within Sembcorp Utilities UK, the Wilton-based utilities and services company.

The station also creates additional job opportunities within the farming, forestry, wood recycling and transport sectors.

The Sembcorp Biomass Power Station has been designed to meet all current and foreseeable European emissions targets by applying Best Available Technology (BAT).

Almost £12 million of the investment came from a Government grant made under the Bio-energy Capital Grants Scheme and is helping the country meet its long-term target of achieving a 60 per cent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2050. The Government is looking for renewable energy schemes to meet 20 per cent of the UK’s energy needs by 2020.

Paul Gavens, Sembcorp Utilities UK’s Executive Vice President and Managing Director, said: “This investment is extremely good news for Sembcorp, the Wilton International manufacturing site and the people of the Tees Valley and the North East in general. It sustains jobs and plays a part in helping the Government meet the UK’s climate change and greenhouse gas reduction targets. This investment is a real demonstration of faith by our parent company in Singapore and is just reward for the hard work and effort of our employees and contractors since Sembcorp took over the business.

“Renewable energy presents an entirely new business opportunity for this region and one that we’re keen to be a part of. We believe this investment offers us a great platform from which we can move forward to a brighter, greener future.”