There was a time when alternative forms of energy production were the preserve of environmentalists and those pursuing The Good Life. But now, spurred on by the costs of landfill tax, climate change levy, the falling price of sawmill co-products, and international measures to reduce CO2 emissions and reliance on fossil fuels, biomass energy is gaining momentum.

The government’s Energy White Paper, released in February, states a priority for renewables and energy efficiency. Its goals include cutting CO2 emissions by 60% by 2050 and doubling the share of electricity from renewables by 2020 from the existing 2010 target of 10%.

In addition, the government has allocated £66m for biomass capital grants and £32.5m for energy crop infrastructure for the next four years. It expects that the capital grants should lead to at least 100MW of electricity from biomass and “significant penetration” in the heat market. A further £55m is available for biomass R&D.

Timber industry grants

In the timber industry, £2m grants have been earmarked for Balcas Ltd and AJ Charlton & Sons Ltd. Balcas plans to build a CHP plant which will use co-products from its own production. Managing director of Balcas Kildare Ltd David Kidney said the plant would provide 2.7MW of electricity for the sawmill and 2MW of heat for the kilns, which are currently fuelled by oil. In addition, 7MW will dry sawdust for wood pellets which will be sold on. Mr Kidney said the project would reduce Balcas’ oil and electricity bills by £1m a year.

AJ Charlton plans to use its sawmill residues to produce 7MW of electricity for the national grid. The resultant heat will be used to dry the residues before burning and also to replace the oil and electricity that currently fuel the company’s kilns. Managing director Peter Charlton said excess heat could also be used for future timber treatments.

Biomass energy company Bronzeoak has received £3.8m from the DTI to build a wood-fired power plant in Somerset. The two-phase project, which includes two 2.5MW gasifiers and a 1.7MW steam turbine, will consume 90,000 tonnes of wood a year. Charles Stone of Bronzeoak said the company would use anything from small logs upwards. It is looking at using residues but they must be clean.

In other DTI grants, Econergy Ltd has received around £500,000 towards a project that will develop clusters of biomass heating installations across central and southern England. Fermanagh Business Initiative has received £105,500 to establish a wood heating cluster; Rural Energy received nearly £900,000 to create a cluster of small heating systems to supply 800 locations, including schools; Welsh Biofuels will use a £350,000 grant to roll out wood pellet heating boilers; and Wood Energy Ltd will use forestry residues and energy crops to develop seven clusters of automatic biomass heating.

And it’s not only these smaller-scale projects where biomass is taking off. Powergen recently announced plans to build a wood-fuelled power station on the Steven’s Croft site in Lockerbie, where AW Jenkinson, James Jones & Sons and Forest Garden all have plants. The company is carrying out engineering studies but, if the multi-million pound station goes ahead, it could provide electricity to power up to 55,000 homes and will save 125,000 tonnes of CO2 being emitted every year compared with fossil fuel generation.

&#8220Interest in biomass comes at a time when the UK sawmilling sector is faced with falling prices for its co-products”

Co-firing

Powergen has already tested co-firing with wood at two of its power stations: at Kingsnorth in Kent imported wood pellets were used, while at Ironbridge UK wood chips were tested.

This interest comes at a time when the UK sawmilling sector is faced with falling prices for its co-products as the panels products industry and some paper companies use increasing volumes of recycled wood fibre. The UK Forest Products Association is keen to see alternative markets for roundwood and residues and, while biomass developments may provide some relief for sawmillers, UKFPA executive director David Sulman warns that it is “by no means certain that wood will be the preferred choice for co-firing” by the power companies. They are experimenting with a wide range of material and the government has a strong agenda for short rotation energy crops.

Technical issues

A number of technical issues surrounding wood have yet to be resolved, such as moisture content and particle size, and the timetable that the government has set for its renewable energy goals is too short to encourage significant capital investment.

There is also uncertainty surrounding the prices that would be paid for wood fuel.

Smaller wood-fuelled plants, such as for schools, hospitals and community heating, “may have more prospects”, said Mr Sulman.