http://biomassmagazine.com/articles/9311/tilbury-power-station-completes-final-day-of-operation
By Erin Voegele | August 13, 2013
The U.K.’s largest biomass power plant is completing its final day of
operation. RWE npower has announced that the 750 MW Tilbury Power
Station will generate power for the last time on Aug. 13.
The facility,
originally fueled with coal, operated for 46 years.
In 2008, RWE made the decision to opt out the then 1,100 MW
coal-fired power plant under the E.U.’s Large Combustion Plant
Directive, a regulation that aims to reduce sulphur dioxide, nitrogen
oxides and particulate matter emissions from power stations and other
large industrial facilities. The decision to opt-out meant that the
plant would shut down after either 20,000 hours of operation or the end
of 2015, whichever was sooner. However, in 2010, RWE elected to use the
remaining hours of operation to trial the use of 100 percent biomass. The action effectively reduced the plant’s production capacity to 750 MW. The conversion was completed in late 2011.
According to information released by RWE on Aug. 12, the second phase
of the conversion would have required the closure of the plant under
the LCPD and the development of a full-scale biomass conversion to meet
new environmental standards. It would have taken approximately two years
to complete the upgrades. Information released by the company specifies
the move would have allowed the plant to operate for an additional 10
to 12 years.
According to the RWE, the U.K. Department of Climate Change confirmed
that the TIlbury project is ineligible for the new Contract for
Difference Support mechanism for lower carbon technologies. As such, the
company said it will not proceed with the second phase of the
conversion. RWE attributes the decision to the fact that the conversion
is not economically viable under the existing Renewable Obligation
mechanism.
Recent statistics released by the U.K. Department of Energy and
Climate Change indicate that power generation from plant biomass in the
U.K. increased by 69 percent during the first quarter of 2013 compared
to the same quarter of the prior year, rising from 1.1 terawatt hours
(TWh) to 1.8 TWh. The increase is attributed to the Tilbury power plant
becoming fully operational.
Data provided by RWE states that the Tilbury plant generated 1.27 TWh
of power during the first quarter of this year. That is more than 10
percent of the 12.4 TWh of total renewable electricity generated in the
U.K. during the same three-month period.
“This is a sad time for everyone at Tilbury Power Station, but I
would like to personally thank all of our staff past and present who
have contributed to the success of the station, particularly in the
delivery of such a pioneering development for UK biomass,” said Nigel
Staves, manager of Tilbury Power Station. “Tilbury remains an excellent
site for power generation and RWE will now review future plans for the
site. The lessons learned from the successful biomass conversion will be
shared across the RWE Generation portfolio, as RWE remains committed to
exploring new energy technologies that can provide energy solutions
that are both affordable and sustainable.”
Showing posts with label UK. Show all posts
Showing posts with label UK. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Monday, July 22, 2013
Keeping Pace with Pellet Trade
http://www.biomassmagazine.com/articles/9238/keeping-pace-with-pellet-trade
U.S.
Highway 82 follows a predominantly western course, away from the port
complex at Brunswick, Ga., running first slightly northwest and then
doglegging to the southwest. It ambles through Glynn, Brantley and Ware
counties before arriving in Waycross, Ga. This 60-mile stretch of
highway traces a path through some of the densest stands of southern
yellow pine in the country. Together, these three counties boast nearly
.5 million forest acres, most of them privately owned and actively
managed for delivery to the area’s forest products complex, including
area pellet mills. East of the Port of Brunswick lies the Atlantic
Ocean, and the world’s fastest-growing pellet market. Linking this
incredible forest biomass resource to power generators in the United
Kingdom and northern Europe, which seek a less carbon-dense fuel are
port terminals like the East River Terminal at the Port of Brunswick.
In August 2011, the Georgia Ports Authority and Logistec, a Montreal-based stevedoring and terminal operations company, announced a shared investment in the East River Terminal to facilitate the rapidly growing export market for wood pellets. Commenting on the project, Curtis Foltz, GPA executive director said, “The significant expansion and installation of new infrastructure at East River Terminal will accommodate Georgia’s export for biomass fuels and create jobs throughout Georgia’s transportation, logistics and forest industries.”
Investing in this critical piece of infrastructure has proven to be wise and timely, as the demand for wood pellets has increased as predicted, contributing to the highest cargo levels the GPA has ever experienced. In April, 2.4 million tons of cargo passed through Georgia’s ports, a new record. Tonnage moving through the East River Terminal increased 14 percent over the same time frame in the previous year, reaching nearly 670,000 tons. The growth in East River’s tonnage was led by biomass fuels, validating the 2011 investments.
A critical component of the investments was a deepening of the shipping channel from 30 to 36 feet. Expounding on the ramifications of that improvement, David Proctor, Logistec terminal manager, says, “The GPA also dredged from 30 to 36 feet, which will increase our capability of bringing in larger vessels for pellet exports. With a 30-foot-depth, you can only get maybe 15,000 or 16,000 tons of any kind of cargo into the Port of Brunswick. With the expansion and the deepening of the channel down to 36 feet, we are capable at this time of moving close to anywhere from 35,000 to 40,000 tons of wood pellets in a vessel. “There are economies of scale with the larger-size vessels, and this additional draft allows us to attract a new target market when serving the large-size utility companies overseas.”
Already a significant piece of Georgia’s forest products industry, pellet producers in the state manufacture over 1 million tons of pellets each year. Current production levels, however, pale in comparison to the nearly 3 million tons of production capacity currently planned or under construction. Virtually all of this new capacity is being developed to serve the growing European market. Georgia’s port operators are feeling the momentum, too, and Proctor notes, “We continue to prospect for new opportunities, and there are many interested parties that we are pursuing.”
As production capacity in Georgia increases, its ports are keeping pace, ensuring the critical market access necessary to maximize the opportunity that fuels growth in both the state’s forest products and port sectors.
The Port of Brunswick is one of many upgrading and expanding to meet Europe’s surging pellet demands.
In August 2011, the Georgia Ports Authority and Logistec, a Montreal-based stevedoring and terminal operations company, announced a shared investment in the East River Terminal to facilitate the rapidly growing export market for wood pellets. Commenting on the project, Curtis Foltz, GPA executive director said, “The significant expansion and installation of new infrastructure at East River Terminal will accommodate Georgia’s export for biomass fuels and create jobs throughout Georgia’s transportation, logistics and forest industries.”
Investing in this critical piece of infrastructure has proven to be wise and timely, as the demand for wood pellets has increased as predicted, contributing to the highest cargo levels the GPA has ever experienced. In April, 2.4 million tons of cargo passed through Georgia’s ports, a new record. Tonnage moving through the East River Terminal increased 14 percent over the same time frame in the previous year, reaching nearly 670,000 tons. The growth in East River’s tonnage was led by biomass fuels, validating the 2011 investments.
A critical component of the investments was a deepening of the shipping channel from 30 to 36 feet. Expounding on the ramifications of that improvement, David Proctor, Logistec terminal manager, says, “The GPA also dredged from 30 to 36 feet, which will increase our capability of bringing in larger vessels for pellet exports. With a 30-foot-depth, you can only get maybe 15,000 or 16,000 tons of any kind of cargo into the Port of Brunswick. With the expansion and the deepening of the channel down to 36 feet, we are capable at this time of moving close to anywhere from 35,000 to 40,000 tons of wood pellets in a vessel. “There are economies of scale with the larger-size vessels, and this additional draft allows us to attract a new target market when serving the large-size utility companies overseas.”
Already a significant piece of Georgia’s forest products industry, pellet producers in the state manufacture over 1 million tons of pellets each year. Current production levels, however, pale in comparison to the nearly 3 million tons of production capacity currently planned or under construction. Virtually all of this new capacity is being developed to serve the growing European market. Georgia’s port operators are feeling the momentum, too, and Proctor notes, “We continue to prospect for new opportunities, and there are many interested parties that we are pursuing.”
As production capacity in Georgia increases, its ports are keeping pace, ensuring the critical market access necessary to maximize the opportunity that fuels growth in both the state’s forest products and port sectors.
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Is it bourgeois to worry about biofuels?
http://www.carbonbrief.org/blog/2013/03/is-it-bourgeois-to-worry-about-biofuels
07 Mar 2013, 15:00 /Robin Webster
A committee of MPs approved new subsidies for bioenergy yesterday, despite controversy over the environmental impact of the fuels. Many academics appear convinced that generating power from some biofuels like palm oil may result in emissions going up rather than down. But are concerns about the sustainability of biofuels "bourgeois" when the country faces the challenge of keeping the lights on?
Arguments over the use of fuels derived from organic matter like plants or crops for transport and in power stations has raged ever since scientific studies began emerging showing that they may have a far higher impact on greenhouse gas emissions than previously thought. Crops like palm oil and soy can compete with food crops for land, ultimately resulting in more clearance of forest and grasslands for agricultural land - driving up emissions.
The UK's former chief scientific advisor Professor David King told Radio 4's Today programme yesterday that biofuels are "pretty much a dead letter" in terms of their ability to reduce emissions.
But on the same programme, energy minister John Hayes told listeners he is "not persuaded at all" by King's argument. Hayes said it's "bourgeois" to worry about biofuels' climate impacts when the country needs to maintain energy security - and biofuels remain a part of the government's plans for meeting its EU-mandated 2020 renewables target.
Waving through
Yesterday afternoon, the obscurely-named Eleventh Delegated Legislation Committee voted for new support measures for renewables. First highlighted by the BBC, the vote covered a series of amendments to the Renewables Obligation (RO) - a subsidy to renewable power, several of which relate to bioenergy.
Some of the amendments set out new incentives for power plant to burn wood or plant material for some of all of the time. The new subsidies follow a consultation from DECC on what the levels should be.
Another amendment guarantees that an energy supplier may get " no more than four per cent" of its subsidies under the RO scheme from bioliquids. Bioliquids are liquid fuels made from organic sources - often vegetable oils like rapeseed, palm oil or soy. The amendment means that some power stations burning vegetable oils can be subsidised by the RO, but sets a cap on the subsidies.
The vote is a routine part of passing through changes to legislation and the attention it attracted seems to have been a surprise to key stakeholders. A spokesperson for trade body the Renewable Energy Association (REA), which supports biofuels, told us yesterday was "flummoxed" by the BBC's report.
Palm oil
The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) says the four per cent cap equates to approximately two terawatt hours of bioliquid electricity generation in 2017. The new limit on bioliquids has attracted criticism from anti biofuel campaigners - largely because of the potential that more palm oil could be imported to be burnt in UK power stations.
REA told us less than 0.1 per cent of biofuels in the transport sector are from palm oil, adding that the amount used in the power sector is probably "a similarly small figure" - so the new subsidies will not result in a rush of palm oil into UK power stations.
But anti-biofuels campaigner campaigner Kenneth Richter, from Friends of the Earth, said that the four per cent limit is "enormous" - and that guaranteed subsidies will cause a significant growth in the consumption of palm oil in power stations. Campaign group BiofuelWatch has calculated that if all of the bioliquids burnt under this cap were palm oil - admittedly rather a big if - then "up to 500,000" tonnes of bioliquid would be burnt in UK power stations as a result.
The UK and EU have both introduced sustainability standards for the biofuels in their energy mix.
But campaigners say that the sustainability criteria aren't strong enough to solve the problem. They point to studies by the European Commission showing emissions from palm oil can be worse than fossil fuels once land use change, deforestation and the draining of carbon-rich peatlands are taken into account.
MPs pointed out in yesterday's Committee meeting that Germany, France and the Netherlands have removed subsidies for bioliquids in the light of concerns about the sustainability of palm oil. John Hayes promised that his department would "look at the matter closely", but provided no further details - arguing that there is little sense to removing subsidies to all bioliquids because of problems with one of them. And with that, the new measures were voted through.
Argument over? Not likely
The argument is not all about bioliquids like palm oil. The new support measures for power stations that convert, or partially convert, to burning biomass are also attracting criticism. This means directly burning organic products like woods and crops in a power station instead of of fossil fuels.
Green campaigners argue DECC's figures show that burning whole conifer trees instead of coal would result in a 49 per cent increase in emissions over a forty year time period. But the REA says that this argument is " simply wrong" and is based on a misrepresentation of industry standards.
While this argument has attracted less attention over recent years, it seems likely to rev up in the future.
In the meantime, it looks as though biofuels' overall carbon emissions may not be top of the agenda for politicians tangling with the energy system. Pressed yesterday on whether it is really 'bourgois' to worry whether the government's so-called 'green' policies could unintentionally drive up greenhouse gas emissions, rather them down, John Hayes did not seem very concerned.
07 Mar 2013, 15:00 /Robin Webster
A committee of MPs approved new subsidies for bioenergy yesterday, despite controversy over the environmental impact of the fuels. Many academics appear convinced that generating power from some biofuels like palm oil may result in emissions going up rather than down. But are concerns about the sustainability of biofuels "bourgeois" when the country faces the challenge of keeping the lights on?
Arguments over the use of fuels derived from organic matter like plants or crops for transport and in power stations has raged ever since scientific studies began emerging showing that they may have a far higher impact on greenhouse gas emissions than previously thought. Crops like palm oil and soy can compete with food crops for land, ultimately resulting in more clearance of forest and grasslands for agricultural land - driving up emissions.
The UK's former chief scientific advisor Professor David King told Radio 4's Today programme yesterday that biofuels are "pretty much a dead letter" in terms of their ability to reduce emissions.
But on the same programme, energy minister John Hayes told listeners he is "not persuaded at all" by King's argument. Hayes said it's "bourgeois" to worry about biofuels' climate impacts when the country needs to maintain energy security - and biofuels remain a part of the government's plans for meeting its EU-mandated 2020 renewables target.
Waving through
Yesterday afternoon, the obscurely-named Eleventh Delegated Legislation Committee voted for new support measures for renewables. First highlighted by the BBC, the vote covered a series of amendments to the Renewables Obligation (RO) - a subsidy to renewable power, several of which relate to bioenergy.
Some of the amendments set out new incentives for power plant to burn wood or plant material for some of all of the time. The new subsidies follow a consultation from DECC on what the levels should be.
Another amendment guarantees that an energy supplier may get " no more than four per cent" of its subsidies under the RO scheme from bioliquids. Bioliquids are liquid fuels made from organic sources - often vegetable oils like rapeseed, palm oil or soy. The amendment means that some power stations burning vegetable oils can be subsidised by the RO, but sets a cap on the subsidies.
The vote is a routine part of passing through changes to legislation and the attention it attracted seems to have been a surprise to key stakeholders. A spokesperson for trade body the Renewable Energy Association (REA), which supports biofuels, told us yesterday was "flummoxed" by the BBC's report.
Palm oil
The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) says the four per cent cap equates to approximately two terawatt hours of bioliquid electricity generation in 2017. The new limit on bioliquids has attracted criticism from anti biofuel campaigners - largely because of the potential that more palm oil could be imported to be burnt in UK power stations.
REA told us less than 0.1 per cent of biofuels in the transport sector are from palm oil, adding that the amount used in the power sector is probably "a similarly small figure" - so the new subsidies will not result in a rush of palm oil into UK power stations.
But anti-biofuels campaigner campaigner Kenneth Richter, from Friends of the Earth, said that the four per cent limit is "enormous" - and that guaranteed subsidies will cause a significant growth in the consumption of palm oil in power stations. Campaign group BiofuelWatch has calculated that if all of the bioliquids burnt under this cap were palm oil - admittedly rather a big if - then "up to 500,000" tonnes of bioliquid would be burnt in UK power stations as a result.
The UK and EU have both introduced sustainability standards for the biofuels in their energy mix.
But campaigners say that the sustainability criteria aren't strong enough to solve the problem. They point to studies by the European Commission showing emissions from palm oil can be worse than fossil fuels once land use change, deforestation and the draining of carbon-rich peatlands are taken into account.
MPs pointed out in yesterday's Committee meeting that Germany, France and the Netherlands have removed subsidies for bioliquids in the light of concerns about the sustainability of palm oil. John Hayes promised that his department would "look at the matter closely", but provided no further details - arguing that there is little sense to removing subsidies to all bioliquids because of problems with one of them. And with that, the new measures were voted through.
Argument over? Not likely
The argument is not all about bioliquids like palm oil. The new support measures for power stations that convert, or partially convert, to burning biomass are also attracting criticism. This means directly burning organic products like woods and crops in a power station instead of of fossil fuels.
Green campaigners argue DECC's figures show that burning whole conifer trees instead of coal would result in a 49 per cent increase in emissions over a forty year time period. But the REA says that this argument is " simply wrong" and is based on a misrepresentation of industry standards.
While this argument has attracted less attention over recent years, it seems likely to rev up in the future.
In the meantime, it looks as though biofuels' overall carbon emissions may not be top of the agenda for politicians tangling with the energy system. Pressed yesterday on whether it is really 'bourgois' to worry whether the government's so-called 'green' policies could unintentionally drive up greenhouse gas emissions, rather them down, John Hayes did not seem very concerned.
Friday, April 8, 2011
RWE’s Coal-Power Plant in Tilbury to Become Britain's Largest Wood Burner
By - Apr 8, 2011 7:40 AM ET
RWE AG (RWE), Europe’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, plans to convert its 1,050-megawatt coal-power station in southeast England to run entirely on wood pellets.
The U.K. is encouraging utilities to burn biomass, such as wood pellets and other plant-matter, to help reach a European Union target of getting 15 percent of its energy from renewable sources. Britain changed subsidies known as Renewable Obligation Certificates in July 2010 to support biomass plants.
“There are great benefits in turning from coal to biomass from an environmental point of view,” Dan Meredith, a Swindon, England-based spokesman for RWE, said yesterday by telephone. Testing the ability to convert the coal-power station at Tilbury completely to biomass “allows us to put the investment in without committing to a new plant.”
Tilbury is one of nine U.K. power plants with a limited number of hours left to operate under EU laws to curb the release of gases linked to acid rain. The stations must close by 2016 or when the allotted hours are used.
RWE will operate the converted plant under the same European restrictions and may decide to re-license the power station if burning biomass proves profitable, Meredith said. That may allow the power station to operate outside the EU’s so- called Large Combustion Plant Directive.
“It’s very much dependent on the electricity market reform and what that’s telling us to do,” Meredith said.
Renewable Certificates
British generators that mix biomass with coal are eligible for at least half a renewable certificate for every megawatt- hour they produce. These are tradable and were worth about 49.89 pounds a megawatt-hour in the last certificate auction on March 29. The U.K. is considering changing aid later this year and may create a new band of subsidy to accommodate conversions.The U.K. introduced a carbon-dioxide tax on power emissions starting in 2013 and plans further changes to encourage investment in low-carbon power generation. RWE may also consider whether to close the Tilbury plant and build a natural-gas fed station, Meredith said.
The Tilbury station emitted 2.8 million metric tons of CO2 last year, EU emissions data compiled by Bloomberg show. While burning biomass spews about the same amount of greenhouse gas into the atmosphere as coal, it doesn’t require emissions permits under the EU’s cap-and-trade program because trees and plants absorb carbon-dioxide when they are growing.
Emissions Permits
In the five years through 2012, power stations get a portion of EU allowances for free. Tilbury receives an annual allocation of 1.5 million permits in those years. These can be sold in the market if unused.The power station will continue to receive free EU permits through the end of 2012, said Isaac Valero-Ladron, a climate spokesman at the European Commission in Brussels.
“This is an inherent and important feature of cap-and- trade,” he said by e-mail. “If one would take away allowances once emissions are reduced, it would take away the incentive to invest.”
Ships carrying coal up the River Thames to dock at Tilbury will switch to transporting wood pellets after RWE converts the facilities at the power station to handle plant material, Meredith said. A “large proportion” of fuel for the plant will travel across the Atlantic from RWE’s wood-pellet plant in Waycross, Georgia, he said.
RWE will use Green Gold Label wood pellets, an independently certified standard to assure the fuel is sourced sustainably, Meredith said.
The conversion, which would make Tilbury the largest biomass plant in the U.K., will be completed by the end of the year, he said. RWE plans to halt the entire station until the end of November, data submitted to National Grid Plc show. The power station will be able to produce 750 megawatts by the end of the year, the data show.
To contact the reporter on this story: Catherine Airlie in London at cairlie@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephen Voss at sev@bloomberg.net
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