CIP and BWSC invest £160m in UK biomass power plant
The Copenhagen Infrastructure II fund and Burmeister & Wain Scandinavian Contractor (BWSC) have acquired 100% of a UK biomass-fired combined heat and power plant project.
The companies have also taken the investment decision to construct the project in Kent, with the total investment amounting to approximately £160 million (€188.3m).
The Kent biomass power plant, expected to come online in summer 2018, will have a capacity of 27.8MW and will be fired primarily with virgin wood sourced locally in the UK.
The entire biomass required will be sourced under a long-term contract with Euroforest, one of the largest virgin wood suppliers in the UK.
The plant will deliver CO2 savings of approximately 100,000 tonnes every year.
The power plant will be constructed by BWSC, which is also the business partner of Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) on two other biomass plants in the UK.
BWSC will furthermore be responsible for operation and maintenance of the plant under an O&M contract for up to 20 years.
The plant will be able to produce power corresponding to the power consumption of 50,000 households, with heat and some of the power also delivered to Discovery Park.
Discovery Park is one of the UK’s leading science parks located in Sandwich, Kent, a global hub for science, technology, business and enterprise.
The project is located in Kent near Sandwich in the UK and has been developed by Estover Energy.
“Our investment in Kent builds on our good experience with the UK biomass power market which to date includes the Brigg project which was commissioned in January 2016 and the Snetterton and Templeborough projects that are under construction and planned to be commissioned in 2017,” said Christina Grumstrup Sørensen, senior partner at CIP.
“The Kent project is BWSC’s eighth turnkey biomass power plant project in the UK within the last 5 years, and it underlines our strong position on the UK renewable energy market. The project also illustrates the value of the close cooperation between strong financial and industrial players in the energy sector resulting in attractive business opportunities and investments for both parties,” said Anders Heine Jensen, CEO at BWSC.
