biopower news Bioenergy
Fire-hit UK biomass plant produces electricity again
Flexibility key as DP CleanTech signs biomass plant contract Biomass facility providers DP CleanTech has signed off on a new Philippines-based 12MW biomass power plant in partnership with Asea One Power. The plant will become part of an overall 42MW clean energy initiative to meet the increasing power supply required by the regions of Panay and Guimaras. The plant will be constructed in the Aklan province and hopes to add a meaningful contribution to reducing carbon emissions and creating new jobs. ‘We are pleased to be working with Asea One, as one of the pioneers in biomass energy
investments in the Philippines,’ says DP CleanTech CEO Simon Parker. ‘We have a shared vision to develop and use the most efficient and reliable solutions and technologies which will help to ensure that biomass energy becomes an integral source of economic growth and prosperity in the Philippines.’ DP CleanTech claims most of the plant’s feedstock will come from local sustainable agricultural rice crop residues, like rice husk and rice straw, as well as woodchips. However, the thermal combustion boiler has been further refined to ensure future fuel flexibility, meaning sugarcane waste and coco leafwood could also be utilised. The project is due to be completed by April 2014. l
A German-owned biomass power plant in Tilbury, UK is starting to thrive again following a fire which occurred on-site in February. Electricity and gas producer RWE Group claims the plant is again providing electricity to the national grid as one of its three units has returned to normal service. It is hopeful the other two units will be back online in July. RWE claims there was no single cause for the fire but that the movement of wood pellets may have been one factor. ‘Although it has not been possible to definitively identify the mechanism for the escalation, this is considered to be the most likely cause,’ RWE issued through a statement. ‘When wood pellets in neighbouring hoppers were moved, significant air drafts were created and, despite fire suppressant foam having been used to cap the affected areas, it is likely that the increased levels of oxygen caused the ignition of the smouldering dust.’ The Tilbury plant has been running on 100% biomass since 2010 and will continue to do so until its closure under the UK Large Combustion Plant Directive in 2015. l
Missing forest subsidies slow down Finnish biopower project A €200 million biopower project in Rovaniemi, Finland is in danger of being halted due to an energy subsidy issue related to the use of low-grade timber. The CHP plant was meant to use woodchips from surrounding Finnish forests as fuel, but the initial felling of fully grown timber is not subsidised by the European Union, unlike the 70% wood feedstock produced by stumps and timber leftovers in southern Finland. Rovaniemen Energia CEO Markus Tykkylainen was
Bioenergy Insight
quoted as saying: ‘Without a proper support package in place, wood for energy cannot be harvested from the forests of northern Finland because of the long distances involved.’ He also feels that because of the current affordable market price of electricity, a decision on investment will not be anyone’s top priority. ‘The collapse of this large biopower project would be an unpleasant setback for our government as it looks to hit a renewable energy commitment of 38% by 2020,’ Tykkylainen adds. Technology director at the Technical Research Centre of Finland, Satu Helynen, says that stumps and leftovers would not be sufficient
Timber felling is not supported by the EU
enough to help meet the expected 95MW of electricity the plant would produce. ‘1.1 million m³ of timber was felled last year for
energy production and the forests have an annual growth in the region of 28 million m³, so the demand could easily be met,’ he says. l
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