Wales Biomass Plant Still on Track After Losing Backer

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--The company behind a major combined heat and power (CHP) plant planned for Holyhead, Wales, has insisted that the 299-megawatt (MW) project is still going ahead after losing a key partner.

Orthios (Holyhead, Anglesey), the developer behind the Orthios Eco Park, confirmed that a funding deal with Chinese investor Sino Fortune Group (Hong Kong) had fallen through, but that it still intends to push ahead with the proposed £1 billion ($1.24 billion) project. The company promised to bring 500 permanent jobs and a further 1,200 jobs during construction. The biomass plant, which would use two 150-MW circulating fluidised bed boilers fuelled by wood chips, would be capable of generating enough power for roughly 300,000 homes.

"Orthios still remains committed to the development of the first eco park in Anglesey," a spokesman for the company told the media. "A planning application for the next phase of the eco park development of the Anglesey site will shortly be submitted, with an anticipated public consultation this spring."

The spokesman said that the funding arrangement with Sino Fortune had ended "many months ago".

The eco park will be built at the former Anglesey Aluminium site and encompass a modular biomass power station supplying electricity to the national grid, while the excess heat will be used for a number of secondary industries on-site, including hydroponics, aquaculture, water purification and food processing, among others. The company is aiming to use the heat for heating indoor ponds for king prawn faming and would become the world's largest on-land prawn growing facility.

Dylan Williams, head of economic development at Anglesey council, told the BBC: "Obviously the financial situation has changed. There was no formal funding agreement, but our understanding is that they are looking for different sources."

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