Scotland's Largest CHP Project gets Go-Ahead

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) - Planning permission has been granted by the Scottish government for the largest combined heat and power (CHP) project in the region.

The green light has been given to Forth Energy, a joint venture between Scottish and Southern Energy (PINK:SSEZY) (SSE) (Perth, Scotland) and Forth Ports Limited, to build the proposed Grangemouth CHP, at the Port of Grangemouth. It will be capable of generating up to 120-megawatts (MW) of renewable electricity as well as provide up to 200 MW of thermal heat (MWth) for local businesses and industry. The electricity generated will be enough to power approximately 130,000 homes. The plant will be fuelled by "sustainably sourced wood fuel", primarily from overseas and which will be delivered to the plant by ship.

"The construction of the combined heat and power plant at the Port of Grangemouth will create up to 500 jobs during construction and 70 permanent jobs, as well as generating up to 120 MW of renewable electricity and 200MWth of renewable heat for local business and industry," said Scotland's Energy Minister, Fergus Ewing, on granting assent.

"In consenting this application I have put in place a series of conditions to protect local residents from inconvenience, safeguard the appearance of the area, and protect the environment and air quality. The conditions to the consent also ensure that the fuel used in the biomass is from sustainable and responsible sources."

Forth Energy Managing Director, Calum Wilson, commented: "This consent creates the opportunity for us to develop a combined heat and power plant that will generate low carbon renewable electricity and heat from wood fuel shipped to the plant, whilst delivering significant benefits to the Grangemouth economy. We will now examine the details of the decision and look forward to engaging with the Scottish Government, Falkirk Council and the local community to take our plans forward."

The plant is expected cost around €548 million ($728 million) to construct and will take approximately three years to build. The partners said that following a year's detailed design and engineering, the plant could begin generating heat and electricity sometime in 2017.

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