Danes Buy Second U.K. Straw-Fired Power Project

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Danish pension group PensionDanmark (Copenhagen) and Burmeister & Wain Scandinavian Contractor A/S (BWSC) (Allerød, Denmark) have snapped up their second straw-fired biomass plant in the U.K. in a deal worth more than €202 million ($249 million).

The partners have bought the 44.2-megawatt (MW) straw-powered biomass project in Snetterton, East Anglia from British renewable energy company Eco2 Limited (Manchester, England). They also purchased the proposed 40-MW Brigg straw-fired biomass plant in Lincolnshire, England, in a €187 million ($230 million) deal in August last year. For additional information, see August 23, 2013, article - Danes buy Straw-fired Power Plant in U.K..

The Snetterton Renewable Energy plant will be primarily fuelled with locally sourced straw and will generate enough electricity for approximately 82,000 homes. Eco2 said it will result in an annual CO2 emissions reduction of about 300,000 tons. The project was originally developed by Iceni Energy Ltd and got the green light from the government in 2012.

"This is a significant deal for the U.K. biomass industry, and the second sale Eco2 has completed with BWSC PCL on a sustainable-scale straw-fired biomass plant," explained Eco2 Chief Executive Officer David Williams. "We have a longstanding relationship with BWSC, who we also worked with on the sale of Wales' first commercial-scale biomass plant in Port Talbot in 2006 -- the Western Wood Energy Plant. This latest deal is the third of its kind in the past three years, totaling £490 million."

BWSC will take over the construction, operation and maintenance of the plant, which is expected to up and running by spring 2017. Straw supply contracts have been put in place for the next 12 years.

In March this year, BWSC awarded Alstom S.A. (OTC:ALSMY) (Paris, France) the contract to design and supply a 45-MW geared reaction steam turbine (GRT) for the Brigg biomass project. The plant, which will be commissioned in 2016, will supply enough power for around 70,000 homes. For additional information, see March 18, 2014, article - U.K. Straw-Fired Plant Awards Turbine Contract.

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