Plans lodged for waste wood biomass plant in Kent

The facility, which is expected to have a 160,000 tonnes-a-year capacity and produce 25MW of power, is being developed by joint venture company Biomass Power Plant Ridham Limited and would look to source wood from construction and demolition, industrial and civic amenity sources in the region.

Biomass Power is a joint venture formed of Germany energy firm subsidiary Evonik New Energies and renewable energy specialist HES Biopower and was set up in November 2009 to develop the biomass plant near Sittingbourne (see letsrecycle.com story).

Once operational, the Ridham facility is expected to produce 25MW of power and up to 35MW of low grade steam heat, with electricity produced by the plant being transported to the national grid. Outlining its plans, Evonik also said there was potential for local offtakers of heat produced by the plant.

Commenting on the proposal, Juergen Kirsch, Evonik project manager, said: “This is a really exciting development for the area in supporting its endeavours to reach landfill diversion and renewable energy targets.

“Together with our partner HES Biopower this development will add to our growing portfolio of renewable energy operations in the UK.”

Consultation

Biomass Power Plant Ridham has consulted on its proposals and the consultation has consisted of a mixture of public exhibitions, newsletters and presentations.

As part of its consultation and community involvement programme, Biomass Power Plant Ridham held a public exhibition regarding the proposals, where they presented further details about the development including updated site layouts, artist's impressions of the facility and the findings from a number of environmental studies.

Evonik Energies UK is a subsidiary of Evonik Energies GmbH, which the company said is one of the three largest renewable energy companies currently operating in Germany.