Memorandum submitted by Prenergy Power
BRIEFING PAPER
About Prenergy Power
Prenergy Power is a UK company owned by experienced
energy industry professionals who have worked in the biomass sector,
as developers and operators of woodchip fuelled Renewable Energy
Plants (REPs) and as suppliers and traders of woodchip feedstock.
Prenergy was recently granted planning consent
by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
to develop a REP on disused land in the port of Port Talbot. The
REP will be a world scale biomass plant, the largest single baseload
renewable energy project in Europe, and will reinforce the message
that the UK is dedicated to trying to meet their climate change
targets through effective renewable systems.
The Plant, which will become operational during
2010, is designed to operate over 8,000 hours per year, and will
have a maximum capacity of 350 megawatts. It will deliver close
to 70% of the Welsh renewable electricity target for 2010.
Developments such as this are crucial for the
UK in order to achieve the Government's target of ensuring 15%
of electricity is supplied from renewable sources by 2015.
Woodchip Fuelled Renewable Energy Plants: Key
Facts
— UK energy supply and security, and
the need to reduce carbon emissions were two of the key themes
of the 2006 Energy Review. The Government recommended that energy
security should be maintained through the diversification of sources
of energy, suppliers and supply routes. Woodchip fuelled REPs
satisfy these criteria through the introduction of new energy
generation sources and fuel supply arrangements.
— The use of woodchip as a fuel for
electricity generation is recognised as being carbon neutral as
the CO2 released is equal to that absorbed during the growth of
the tree. Replanting of the harvested trees ensures sustainability.
— REPs are fuelled by woodchip from
certified sustainable sources.
— Woodchip fuelled REPs have a lifespan
of up to 25 years and operate as a baseload (full time, 24 hours
per day, 365 days per year) plant. This has significant advantages
over other renewable energy supplies which only operate some of
the time.
— Large scale woodchip REPs have the
additional benefit of having a higher net efficiency than smaller
plants. This means that they need less feedstock to produce the
same amount of electricity; carbon costs associated with transporting
the feedstock are therefore lower for large scale REPs.
Power Generation: Lifecycle CO2 Emissions By Fuel
Renewable Energy Plants burning woodchip have
a very low CO2 emission lifecycle. The graph below outlines how
they compare to other energy sources. This includes all transport
carbon costs.
Sources: International
Energy Agency, Carnegie Mellon University, Prenergy Power
Going Forward
Prenergy Power believes that woodchip fuelled
Renewable Energy Plants have an important role to play in ensuring
the UK meets the renewable energy targets that both the Government
and the EU have set. The Government is due to publish a Renewable
Energy Strategy in Spring 2009 and Prenergy hopes that they will
take the opportunity to endorse woodchip fuelled Plants as one
of the measures needed to meet the EU's target of securing 20%
of all its energy from renewable sources by 2020.
Prenergy Power
March 2008
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