Plans to develop a second major biomass power generation project at the Port of Tyne in the UK were unveiled yesterday (10th August) by MGT Power Ltd. According to a statement released by the company the scheme will generate carbon neutral electricity for around 600,000 homes in the North East of England. Subject to planning, this major plant, is targeted for commercial operation in 2014.

Chris Moore, Director of MGT Power said: “With the [UK] government committed to more renewable electricity generation over the next decade, our Tyne biomass project along with our consented scheme at Teesport will make a significant contribution to the Government’s targets.  Large scale biomass projects can operate at baseload and each scheme will produce in one year as much green electricity as the largest 1,000MW wind farm project.  Each biomass project will also save 1.2 million tonnes of CO2 from being emitted every year.”

As a first stage in the Tyne REP planning process, MGT Power has outlined details of the project in a “Scoping Document” which has been circulated to a large number of local and national organisations, including North Tyneside Council, the Environment Agency and the Department of Energy & Climate Change.  The Scoping Document outlines the rationale for the project, the energy and planning policy framework and the technical studies and consultations that MGT Power will undertake as part of the project’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).

The biomass feedstock for the Tyne Renewable Energy Plant will, says the company, be sourced from certified sustainable forestry projects developed by the MGT Power team and partners in North and South America and the Baltic States, and in the longer-term UK sources.  The biomass is clean burning woodchip, which MGT claims delivers 95% greenhouse gas savings in comparison to coal or natural gas through the life cycle and will not use high quality land suitable for food crops.  The plant will use around 2.4m tonnes of woodchips per annum and will operate at baseload – 24 hours a day, all year round.