Europe's Largest Biomass Plant Ready to Burn

---

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) -- Europe's largest biomass plant could be fired up within weeks as testing has been underway since December.

Tilbury Power Station, a former coal-fired plant located in Essex, southeast England, is expected to start generating up to 750 megawatts (MW) of power from biomass in the next fortnight, following a conversion process that kicked off last year. The former 1,100 MW coal-fired plant underwent the conversion process of three of its units last summer and will now burn wood pellets instead. For additional information see April 11, 2011, article - RWE Converting Tilbury Coal-Fired Plant To Biomass.

RWE npower (Swindon, England), the plant owner and U.K. arm of German energy giant RWE AG (OTC:RWEOY) (Essen, Germany) took delivery of a 46,000 tonne pellet shipment last month. A spokesperson for RWE npower told media that Tilbury was ideal for converting to green energy thanks to its excellent jetty facilities on the Thames Estuary, which are being used for the delivery of pellets.

The change over at Tilbury will benefit RWE by cutting its carbon emissions under European Union (E.U.) regulations as well as making it eligible for subsidy payments, or Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs), from the government.

Tilbury Power Station will operate using biomass until the end of 2015, or 20,000 hours, as the plant has 'opted out' under the European Union's Large Combustion Plant Directive (LCPD). In that time, it will generate up to 10% of the country's renewable energy and supply enough electricity to power around 1.5 million homes. There is a possibility that RWE may apply to extend the lifespan of Tilbury beyond the 2015 deadline by keeping it as a dedicated biomass plant.

The company said: "In early 2011, after carefully assessing the available options for the site, we made the decision to consider the possibility of re-permitting and re-consenting the existing Tilbury Power Station to enable it to continue to operate as a dedicated biomass plant beyond the LCPD limit."

The other option, which has been put on hold for now, it to build a 2,400 MW combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plant on the site. RWE revealed plans for the proposed CCGT plant just a few months after it shelved plans to build a new 1,600-MW cleaner coal-fired plant at the Tilbury site. For additional information, see February 4, 2010, article - RWE Considers 2,000-Megawatt Power Plant for Tilbury.

View Plant Profile - 106985
View Project Report - 78000389

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, and eight offices outside of North America, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.