New Biomass Combined Heat and Power Plant

Evonik New Energies has submitted a proposal for a Biomass Combined Heat and Power plant. The facility would be located on industrial land at Ridham Dock in Kent, UK and would convert up to 160,000 tonnes of regionally sourced non-recyclable waste wood to green, renewable energy in the form of heat for potential users and electricity, which will be fed to the national grid.

Over six million tonnes of non-recyclable waste wood is produced in the UK every year with the majority of this material being sent to landfill. With the cost of landfill tax increasing and the requirement to ’pre-treat’ all waste wood destined for landfill, it is becoming increasingly difficult and expensive to handle non-recyclable waste wood. Dealing with non-recyclable waste wood is also a regional issue for the South East of England with Kent alone generating potentially over 100,000 tonnes of waste wood each year. Currently a large proportion of this material is going to landfill. This is clearly not a sustainable way to manage this valuable resource. With a 15% renewable energy target by 2020, the UK government strongly supports new technologies that generate energy from renewable sources rather than those that deplete the earth’s finite resources.

If approved, the facility would see a significant future investment into the local area with permanent local jobs being created at the site itself, as well as further temporary jobs during the construction process and long-term contract work with local companies for services and materials. Potential heat partnerships with local businesses would also contribute to long-term economic development and stability in the region.