Construction begins at 40MW Glennmont biomass plant in UK

Construction work has officially begun at Glennmont Partners’ Port Clarence Renewable Energy Plant in Stockton-on-Tees, UK.

Once completed, the £160 million (€220m) plant will burn 250,000 tonnes of waste wood annually to produce 40MW of combined heat and power.

Commercial operations at the plant are expected to begin in 2018.

The project was originally developed by Eco2 Limited and Temporis Capital, but it was sold to Glennmont with Eco2 remaining as a site manager.

Local council leader Bob Cook, who broke first ground at the construction site, says Glennmont’s investment in the area is welcome as it helps grow local economy and create jobs.

‘We are committed to working with the private sector to help them explore opportunities to develop renewable energy products like this, which will help to reduce carbon emissions,’ Cook says.

Plans for a power plant at the site were originally revealed in 2009 by Bio Energy Investment (BEI), but at the time they were quickly dashed due to the difficulty of attracting funding.

The futuristic BEI facility would have burned nut husks imported from Malaysia and included a volcano-shaped tower with viewing platforms for the public.