Biomass plant boost for Southampton

Helius Energy has just started the public consultation process toward the development of its 100MW biomass fuelled power station, which is to be located within the port’s Western Docks, adjacent to the rail freight terminal.

The company is keen to point to the plant’s ecological credibility. The biomass feedstock will comprise of sustainably sourced fuel in the form of virgin wood fibre; recycled wood and energy crops together with other biomass material including Solid Recovered Fuel and residues from processing cereals and oilseeds. Biomass will not include domestic or hospital waste, hazardous waste or liquid biomass, for example, vegetable oils.

Further, the fuel will be supplied from sustainably managed sources in line with Helius’ policy and will comply with the requirements set out by the Renewables Obligation 2009. Annual reports will allow the monitoring of the sustainability of the feedstock. Although the majority of the fuel will be delivered to the plant through the port, some locally sourced fuel is planned to be delivered to the site by road.

The power station will produce enough renewable electricity for around 200,000 homes, and it is estimated the plant will save the emission of up to 720,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year when compared to a similarly sized coal-fired power station. The electricity produced at the plant will be fed into the local electricity grid.

Further, investigations are underway to establish whether heat from the plant could be provided to adjacent users on a commercial basis.