A 44MW Biomass Power Station near Lockerbie

Eon Opens Largest UK Biomass Plant in Scotland: 27 March 2008

The Steven's Croft Power Station near Lockerbie, the largest wood-fired power station in the UK, was officially opened today allowing biomass generation in Scotland on a new scale. It marks a significant step towards meeting the Scottish Government's targets of generating 50 per cent of electricity from renewable sources and achieving an 80 per cent reduction in carbon emissions by 2050. Steven's Croft is a 44MW biomass power plant, burning a mixture of forestry residue and specially grown willow. It is expected to sustain around 300 jobs in the forestry and agriculture sector and to save up to 140,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year.

After performing the opening, First Minister Alex Salmond said: "Today we put Lockerbie on Scotland's renewable energy map, as the home of the UK's largest wood-fired power station. At a stroke, Steven's Croft more than doubles Scotland's biomass electricity generating capacity from 39 to 83 megawatts.

Historical Info: This is a major project for Scotland: biomass is a carbon neutral fuel with huge potential for both electricity generation and for farmers growing crops such as willow which can be burned in the generator. The Lockerbie plant is "carbon neutral", because the carbon dioxide it will produce has already been removed from the atmosphere by the photosynthesis of the trees which produced the wood which it will burn, so it will also help us to meet our tough green energy targets.

The biggest of the National Lottery distributors, the Big Lottery Fund, supported the development of the new biomass plant with a grant of £18m from their Bioenergy Capital Grants Scheme. The 220,000 tonnes of fuel required for the station every year will come from the local area: initial contracts are in place to provide a mix of waste wood from the timber industry, forest residue, and short rotation coppice. Within four years of operation, it is expected that up to 45,000 tonnes a year will come from willow harvested by local farmers. It is estimated that the power station, which will be located at Steven's Croft, will create 40 direct jobs and 300 indirect jobs in forestry and farming.

The project is owned and will be operated by E.ON UK, Construction is being undertaken by a consortium of Siemens and Kvaerner. The project will be a bubbling fluidised bed combustor (see diagram), having first started development in January 2003 and receiving outline planning permission in July 2004. There is huge potential elsewhere in Dumfries and Galloway for more of these wood-burning power stations, especially in or near Newton Stewart, at the heart of the enormous Galloway Forest, with a large area of agricultural land nearby for the growth of energy crops.