New biomass plant due to open in Essex

Britain’s biggest biomass power plant is to begin producing power at the end of next week, with all three 250MW units producing by the end of the month. The power is generated using wood pellets and is situated at the site of the soon to be closed coal fired plant at Tilbury, Essex.

The plant is owned and run by RWE npower and 46,000 tonnes of wood was delivered from the RWE npower facility in Georgia, USA last November. Most of the raw materials will come from North America, with a minority coming from Europe.

Biomass has several key advantages over other fuel sources: it has minimal environmental impact if the fuel is produces sustainably and it is particularly efficient and clean burning and has many potential sources – making its cost per unit energy lower than fossil fuel sources.

RWE npower are also looking to natural gas to diversify their energy supply with a 2,000MW plant at Pembroke due to open later this year and another 1650MW plant in Staythorpe in the early stages of construction.

Natural gas is a particularly volatile issue at the moment, with some claiming that it is the only viable way to fill Britain’s energy gap in the coming decade, while other claim it can be just as damaging to the environment as coal and oil and should not be seen as a substitute for renewables.