New UK Straw-Fired Biomass Power Plant

Magazine: The Bioenergy International
Publication month: February 2012
Article title: "New UK Straw-Fired Biomass Power Plant"
Article author: Lennart Ljungholm
Translation and abstracts edited by: Cinzia Bernardi and Maira Zaniolo
Class 3 ° C
Institute: Liceo "Tito Lucrezio Caro" - Cittadella

ABSTRACT

After five years of intense negotiations, BWSC and its partner BWE have obtained 150 million euros to commission Eco2 a power plant in Sleaford, UK, powered by straw. The plant will only be operational in 2014, with the application of Danish technology. For the project to succeed, you need a strong team work, even if not always easy, in order to help even in times of difficulty. An example is the Sleaford project that has been repeatedly put on a waiting list because of the past economic crisis, which has led to the withdrawal of some investors, thus posing the question of its success. This project was developed by "Eco 2" for the BNP group, which for the occasion is accumulating money that will then be administered by some sponsoring banks. The basic idea is to feed a biomass power plant with straw, which was already approved in the 1990s in Denmark, which is also the world's largest producer of this raw material.
Good hopes come from Anders Heine Jense (director of the company) who trusts in a development of exports from the country and the involvement of several states, aiming at a perfecting of the project. Great Britain will test the good functioning of the power plant thus increasing the number of plants in the area fed by organic waste, reaching a quota of two. Its construction will employ 150 million euros that have been procured by the BWSC. The new plant will thus produce 38.5 MW, which will be divided among 65 000 households and companies. To achieve this result, however, 240 000 tonnes of straw per year should be burnt, thus reducing CO2 emissions as well.

IN ENGLAND THE STRAW BECOMES ENERGY

The BWNS obtains 150 million euros to build the Sleaford biomass plant
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After five years of intense negotiations, the Danish company of construction contracts, Burmeister & Wain Scandinavian Contractor A / S (BWSC), has obtained with its partner, BWE, 150 million euros to commission Eco2 to build the new plant powered by biomass in Sleaford, UK. The plant will be operational in 2014. The contract includes a clause worth twelve years for the use and maintenance of the structure.
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When the plant in Sleaford becomes operational in 2014, it will be powered by straw combustion, thanks to excellent testing of Danish technology and experience. BWSC has belonged to the Japanese company Mitsui since 1990, and after five years of attempts, has obtained a contract worth € 150 million to build a biomass power plant that produces 38.5 MW usable immediately. The plant will be located in Sleaford in Lincolnshire, in the eastern part of England. In addition to construction, the contract also includes a twelve-year agreement for the operation and maintenance of the structure.
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OSTINATED MEMBERS
"The energy project is complex, requires a lot of discipline and requires an efficient collaboration skills. Consequently, the success of a project depends on the correct choice of members and the right combination of skills and experience. Mutual trust is decisive and all the parties involved must be flexible in overcoming the challenges that inevitably arise in the development of the project ", says Anders Heine Jensen (director of the company).
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MORE THAN ONCE IN WAITING LIST
The team had to face a high number of challenges. The legal conditions of the system are changing and unclear, which have repeatedly brought the project to a waiting list. The long economic crisis that has just passed has forced some investors to withdraw from the initiative, and the demand for safety and the success of the project has been greatly increased by lenders.
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FINANCIAL STRUCTURE AND INVOLVED PARTS
The Sleaford project is owned by the BNP, Paribas Clean Energy Fun, (a Paribas fund for clean energy), a specific public investment for renewable energy. Eco 2 has developed the Sleaford Project in favor of BNP and for it will oversee the construction and management of the plant. The BNP is accumulating capital in favor of the Sleaford Project. The balance of assets will then be determined by some banks, such as: NIBC Bank N.V., Unicredit Bank A.G., the Royal Bank of Scotland and Siemens Bank GmbH; who financed the project.

THE POTENTIAL IS NOT MANIFESTED FOR EXPORT
The new biomass power plant fed with straw will receive fuel from local producers. This unusual source of energy has already been recognized and documented in the 1990s in Denmark. Although Denmark is considered the world leader for the amount of stubble used to produce energy, only a small percentage of this will be used on a global scale. Anders Heine Jensen hopes that this unexploded potential of straw will open the door for new possible exports. The Danish stubble experience gives us the opportunity to export it to other countries, where there is less experience with straw-fed plants. We are involving many states in the development of the project, where we hope in every way in a little faster refinement, what we have experienced with the Sleaford Project - says Jensen.
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INVITING CONDITIONS
The British renewable energy agreements are the most attractive in the European Union. Since 1990, renewable energy has played an important role in British energy policy, and the new biomass power plant, powered by straw, will be the second organic waste plant that uses Danish innovation for energy production derived from the stubble.
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Lennart Ljungblom
-based on BWSC material-
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The biomass plant at Sleaford in Lincolnshire, in the eastern part of England, will be a structure powered by straw combustion. The plant is designed to generate 38.5MW, with an average annual efficiency under variable operating circumstances exceeding 34%. The 38.5 MW is sufficient to supply electricity to around 65,000 households and businesses. In Sleaford, public buildings will also be powered by district heating. 240,000 tonnes of straw bales will be used per year. Most of these will be recovered within a 30-mile radius. It is expected that CO2 emissions, currently equal to 250,000 tons per year, are reduced thanks to the combustion of the stubble. The BWE boiler produces a high pressure, a high temperature of steam and 112 bar at a temperature of 540 ° C.