Kedco to build UK biomass-fed power station

Cork-based Kedco has agreed to build a biomass-fed power station in southwest England after the British guaranteed electricity prices from clean-energy plants.

The AIM-listed company currently operates a 4MW biomass plant in Newry and the Altilow wind project in Donegal and recently agreed to develop a new power station at Derry Port.

The new facility will have a capacity of as much as 10 megawatts. The British government, seeking to spur expansion of clean energy to meet demand while cutting emissions, published proposals last week for guaranteed electricity prices.

New biomass heat and power plants may receive£ 120 a megawatt-hour, according to the plans under the Electricity Market Reform.

Kedco, whose plant would be built in an energy park being developed by London and Devonshire in Plymouth, expects to sign a binding contract with the trust this month.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change estimates that bioenergy plants that use feedstocks such as wood chips and organic waste may meet 8 per cent to 11 per cent of the nation’s primary energy demand by 2020.

Bloomberg