SWINDON, UK, Aug. 17, 2008 (Press Release) - RWE npower Cogen - the Combined Heat & Power (CHP) division of RWE npower today announced plans to build a 45 MW biomass CHP plant at Markinch in Scotland.
An £8.1m Regional Selective Assistance grant from the Scottish Government has been awarded to help fund the project. The new facility will supply steam and electricity to the Tullis Russell Papermakers paper mill under a long term contract.
Tullis Russell's paper mill currently uses a coal fired plant to provide the steam and electricity needed to produce its products. Working with RWE npower, the new facility will enable Tullis Russell to dramatically reduce its carbon emissions.
Phil Piddington, Head of npower Cogen said: "Our plans to build a CHP plant at the Tullis Russell paper mill form an important part of our wider strategy of reducing our carbon intensity, through investment in lower or
zero carbon power generation sources. This project is an excellent example of how innovative new energy technologies such as Biomass can be deployed to help the UK energy industry - and individual businesses - to reduce their impact on the environment."
Tullis Russell's Chief Executive Chris Parr said: "We are looking forward to working very closely with RWE on the CHP project. This will replace our existing coal-fired CHP plant and allow us to use steam and electricity produced from renewable fuel. The project will reduce the carbon intensity of our paper making process and therefore supply our customers with low carbon paper products. The project will reduce our carbon emissions by approximately 250,000 tonnes per year."
Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond said:
"This is tremendously exciting with huge economic and environmental benefits for Scotland. The Scottish Government has fully supported the partnership working of these two leading, international companies, RWE npower Cogen and Tullis Russell.
"The new biomass plant in Markinch is a significant investment in Scotland and pays testament to our competitive advantage in terms of skills and workforce and the development of energy supplies that are cleaner, greener and economically competitive.
"I am delighted that we have attracted and secured this significant investment. The project complements the Scottish Government's work to make Scotland a greener, wealthier and fairer place to live and do business in. This announcement points the way to the future and shows the resilience of the Scottish economy in the face of international financial pressure."
The npower Cogen and Tullis Russell team hopes to secure all necessary approvals by the end of 2008 with the CHP plant entering operation in 2011.
The project will add 45MW of CHP capacity to RWE npower's existing CHP portfolio which supplies a total of 2000MW of energy. RWE npower owns 11 CHP plants on key customer sites supplying power and heat to industrial customers in the oil, paper and chemical sectors.
CHP plants combine electricity generation and heat production, producing significant efficiency and cost benefits. The technology also delivers environmental benefits through lower carbon dioxide emissions.
