UK ports ride the Green wave

It seems UK ports are increasingly floating themselves on a Green revolution. Last week the Port of Tyne signed a 10 year agreement to handle and store between 0.5 million and 1.4 million tonnes of biomass per annum. Drax Power wants the biomass, which will be from sustainable sources, for its power station in North Yorkshire. The port will be responsible for the unloading of vessels containing up to 75,000 tonnes of biomass each, transferring it to storage facilities and subsequently reloading it onto trains for dispatch, all of which will occur on the south bank of the port’s operations in South Shields. “There is some fairly extensive work to be done to accommodate the specific requirements of this project,” says CEO Andrew Moffat, who adds there is a £16 million investment involved to get things ready for the start of operations in 2010. This follows Forth Ports recent plans to establish biomass energy plants at four of the company’s six ports, substantially boosting the group’s commitment to Scottish renewables. The four combined heat and power (CHP) biomass power stations will be put up at the ports in Dundee, Leith, Rosyth and Grangemouth. In addition to the electricity they produce, they will also provide heat at the ports – and potentially neighbouring industrial sites in the future. "It is clear that biomass will play an increasingly important role in energy production over the next 10 years, and it is an area in which SSE expects to be a significant player," says SSE chief executive Ian Marchant. Further, in Port Talbot, the construction of the renewable energy plant which should start operation in early 2011 is continuing apace, a development which should secure the long term future of the nearby port. < Prev