Biomass power station – Have your say by June 30th

DONG Energy has produced a Report to Technical Consultees and an Environmental Scoping Report on its Humber Renewables Project. Both reports give details of the company’s proposals to build a ‘green’ power station at reclaimed land at Queen Elizabeth Dock, Hull, near Paull and Hedon.

Key information on the proposals:

• Construction would start in 2012 and take approximately 40 months to complete.
• The main buildings will be no higher than 100m with a chimney stack likely to be from 80m – 120m high
• The power station will generate just under 300MW (megawatts) of electricity, enough to meet the average needs of around half a million homes – and will operate continuously.
• Steam or heat produced could, in the future, be supplied to customers on the nearby industrial area, which could increase the overall efficiency of the power station.
• It will use 100% biomass fuel; woodchips and wood pellets.
• 2 million tonnes of biomass fuel will be used per year brought to the site by ship.
• A small amount of light fuel oil (up to 500 tonnes) will also be stored at the site for use primarily during start-ups.
• DONG Energy will comply with regulations regarding the safe movement, use and storage of hazzardous materials at the
  site (fuel oil, water treatment chemicals).
• Fly ash produced by the power station will be stored in an enclosed silo fitted with a bag filter to minimise dust emissions. DONG Energy is
  investigating the potential for using the fly ash and bottom ash as fertiliser or within the building industry. The least favoured option for the ash is landfill.
• At present, the number of jobs is expected to be approximately 60 full time employees. Of these, approximately 50 are likely to be on site during normal operation.
• a maximum of 800 people will be on site during construction and up to 75 heavy goods vehicles and light goods vehicles will visit the construction site on a daily basis.

The company is asking for input on the preferred location of the site which is in the vicinity of feeding grounds for birds. Also the future of a footpath is also under discussion which the company describes as “dead-end… to which there has been no regular public access for several years”.

The reports available are Report to Technical Consultees (30 pages) and the Enviromental (EIA) Scoping Report (146 pages). A non-technical summary of the Humber Renewables Project is also available: Non Technical Summary (15 pages).

A Scribd version of the Non-Technical Summary document is available to view here.

DONG Energy is inviting comments on its proposal. Please respond by June 30, 2010 using one of the following routes:

Write to: FREEPOST Humber Renewables (no stamp required)

Email: humberrenewables@dongenergy.co.uk

Use the feedback form on the website: www.humberrenewables.co.uk

The development team can be contacted by leaving a message on freephone
0800 023 4497.