Helius wins go-ahead for first of series of biomass plants
Energy firm the Helius group is set to build a series of large biomass power stations across the UK.
The government has given the company permission to build its first power station in Lincolnshire. Helius also plans to build biofuel production facilities at the site to make it the UK’s first integrated “bio-energy power plant”.
The 65MW biomass power station is set to come online in 2011 and will provide more than 70 permanent jobs for engineers. It will have the technology to make electricity from a wider range of materials than current biomass plants through the use of technology such as suspension burners.
These will allow biomass materials, such as residues of cereal and seeds, including rape seed meal, to be processed into fuel. In addition a water-cooled vibrating grate will be used to fire large and wet materials into fuel, including bark, woodchip and wet grains.
Adrian Bowles, technical director of Helius Energy, said: “Usually you can only have certain types of woodchip, but this will allow us to use a wider range of biomass materials. We will be able to openly choose which system we want to use with each material.”
Around 430,000 tonnes of sustainably sourced feedstock will be needed to operate the plant, from around the world, each year. A significant amount of this will be sourced from the UK.
Bowles said: “We will be using a lot of UK-based wood. We want to have a sustainably low carbon footprint.”
After the power station is built, a bio-ethanol facility and bio-diesel site will also be constructed to provide alternative fuels for vehicles. The bio-ethanol site will produce around 250,000 tonnes of fuel, while the bio-diesel plant will produce 100,000 tonnes. Together the facilities will make up a 15-hectare site.
Helius is in talks to develop three similar bio-energy plants in the UK.
© PE Publishing, 25 June 2008
