Scottish renewable energy park plans include biomass, AD facilities

Plans have been unveiled to build a large-scale renewable energy park in northeast Scotland, incorporating biomass and anaerobic digestion (AD) facilities.

The energy park, to be developed by Edinburgh-based Holistic Energy, is designed to deliver 150-200 MW of green energy to supply the Scottish grid, with the capacity to power tens of thousands of homes.

It is estimated that 1,500 jobs will be created to build the park, while a further 250 permanent jobs will be created by the operation. Holistic Energy hopes to commence building in 2023 and be operational by 2026.

The development is earmarked to be built on a purchase 99-acre site close to the existing Peterhead Power Station in Aberdeenshire. It has attracted overseas interest from investment group North China Power Engineering (NCPE), which has pledged £800 million for the build-out phase.

Holistic Energy has completed feasibility and evaluation studies of what will be the UK’s first Holistic Low Carbon Energy Facility. The feasibility study has produced an outline layout of the facility, the range of technologies to be used, and how these will interact.

Concepts include a mixed fuel gasification and biomass plant, a green biodiesel production facility, and an AD plant. These will be housed alongside solar PV, wind energy, and supported by a green hydrogen production facility and large-scale battery storage facilities.

Dr Gen Cannibal, director of Holistic Energy, believes the complex systems approach to engineering a new renewable energy village will showcase and utilise the capabilities of interlinked renewable technologies.

“The facility will have three primary purposes – to produce a local renewable power station in Peterhead which can approach the most commonly-identified barriers to renewable uptake, to form a major R&D facility for new technologies that have reached the marketable stage but have not, as of yet, attained large-scale market application and thirdly, to provide a significant replacement to gas-powered plants in satisfying Scottish electricity demands and, hence, decarbonising the Scottish Economy,” said Cannibal.

“The ambitions for the development of the Renewable Energy Village are to showcase Scotland and the UK as a world leader in energy transition projects and enhance our delivery timeline to low- or zero-carbon energy sources.”

Holistic Energy will work with several partners in the design, civil engineering and construction phases, including Aberdeen-based firms Wood Group and XL Group, Will Rudd Davidson, and Bell Ingram Design.