JV looks to launch 400 MW biomass plants in Scotland

Forth Energy unveiled plans today to develop dedicated biomass plants at four sites in Scotland.

Forth Energy is a joint venture between UK utility Scottish and Southern Energy (LSE:SSE) and Edinburgh-based Forth Ports, created in 2008. It invests in the generation and distribution of renewable energy that can be exported to the electricity network for commercial sale and use at Forth Ports’ sites.

Forth Ports runs a group of regionally based ports in the central belt of Scotland and Tayside.

The combined four locations would have a total installed capacity of around 400 megawatts. The plants could also produce heat to be used at other sites owned by Forth Ports and potentially other neighboring sites. Financial details were not disclosed.

The plants are proposed at four sites already owned by Forth Ports including: Dundee, Leith, Rosyth and Grangemouth.

The JV said it plans to seek consent in 2010 to build the plants.

Output from dedicated regular biomass plants attracts 1.5 renewables obligation certificates (ROC) per megawatt hour.

ROCs are issued to accredited generators of renewable electricity generated within the UK and supplied to customers within the UK by electricity suppliers, according to the UK-based Office of the Gas and Electricity Markets.

The certificates are intended to be an incentive for UK electricity suppliers to source more of their electricity from renewables.

According to Forth Energy, the plants would be primarily fueled by softwood from sustainably-managed forests in the UK and overseas.

SSE owns and operates an 80 MW biomass plant at Slough in Berkshire. The company has also invested in other cleantech sectors (see Scottish and Southern investing in geothermal, Scottish and Southern investing in fuel cell venture and Scottish and Southern signs $3B in wind contracts).

Other companies operating biomass plants in Scotland include Germany-based E.ON and Finland's Wartsila (see E.ON to build big biomass plant in U.K. and Wartsila to install biomass plants for Scottish & Newcastle). 

However, Scottish-Scandanavian developer Forscot Limited scrapped plans in 2008 for a £1 billion ($1.57 billion) biomass plant in Scotland because it wasn’t able to secure funding. Forscot was expected to dissolve (see Forscot scraps £1B biomass plan).

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