The UK Biogas Directory 2012

Press Information

UK well placed to meet recommended bioenergy targets

7 December 2011

After the influential Government Committee on Climate Change (CCC) published its first Bioenergy Review, Enagri, one of the UK’s leading bioenergy information providers, says that the UK is on track to produce 10% of its primary energy from biomass as recommended in the report.

Published at the end of November, the UK Biomass Directory 2012 lists every announced and operational power plant using biomass feedstocks in the UK. Enagri’s data shows that by 2020 these could produce around 130 TWh of electricity, compared with the CCC’s recommendation that bioenergy produce 200 TWh of primary energy by 2050.

The Biomass Directory provides capacity information, feedstock data, development costs and project timelines for more than 200 schemes, but it also scores them according to the technology used, and the project’s development and financial status. When this data is taken into account the potential for currently announced bioenergy projects drops to just over 100TWh by 2020.

The UK biomass sector has undergone something of hiatus since the publication of Enagri’s first Biomass Directory last summer. This has been caused by investor uncertainty over government policy and is shown by the limited progress than many of the schemes which remain in the directory from its first edition have shown.

“Despite the setbacks and delays the new edition of the directory shows a healthy number of new projects coming forward,” says Enagri’s Managing Director Richard Crowhurst who edited the report. “There have also been more developments in terms of project financing and consenting in the last six months than the last eighteen, so we are starting to see some movement and investor confidence.”

However, he cautions that uncertainty caused by the Government’s proposals for Energy Market Reform (EMR) still appear to be stalling developments between 2015 and 2020. “There is a real drop off of projects post 2015, which is likely to be caused by uncertainty of what awaits after the Renewables Obligation,” he adds. “This will need to be addressed if we are to meet our 2020 and 2050 targets for renewable energy and carbon emission reduction. Much of this capacity is also reliant on the total conversion of coal-fired power stations which may be unfeasible for a number of reasons.”

Some of the other key findings of the report, which has become the bible for project developers, analysts, investors, fuel suppliers and others, include:

• The potential to generate 130 TWh of electricity from biomass by 2020
A requirement for 50 million tonnes of biomass feedstock a year to meet this requirement
• The creation of over 5,500 full time jobs by 2020 with as many created in support and associated roles
• The potential to employ over 15,000 people in the construction of new biomass plant

The UK Biomass Directory includes details of dedicated biomass plants, co-firing plants, energy-from-waste plants and facilities using bioliquid feedstocks which are included for the first time. It also includes information and contact details for key companies in the sector, making the Directory a fantastic resource for anyone involved in bioenergy policy in the UK.

Positive outlook for biomass power in UK despite setbacks

5 September 2011

The latest market directory from Enagri provides an update on the development of medium and large-scale biomass power plants in the UK and shows some progress in plant development since the last report in 2010, despite industry uncertainty over Government support.

The Directory of UK Biomass Generation Plants 2011 is a fully updated and enlarged follow-up to last year’s Directory and will be officially launched at this year’s European Bioenergy Expo and Conference (EBEC) on 5 October.

Although investment and financing has been hit by ongoing uncertainty caused by the Renewables Obligation Banding Review and, more recently plans for Energy Market Reform, the ambitions of large developers appear undaunted with a number of new projects announced and significant progress made on many of the projects first highlighted last year.

"Although some of the projects listed in the 2010 Directory have dropped off the list due to financing or planning issues, the overall picture is positive for the development of biomass power in the UK,” says Enagri’s Managing Editor Richard Crowhurst. “With coverage of almost 300 biomass, co-firing and energy-from-waste plants, once again Enagri’s Biomass Directory is the most complete survey of the sector available.”

Also included for the first time are power plants using bioliquid feedstocks, as well as more information on companies, making the Directory a fantastic resource for developers, fuel suppliers, analysts and anyone involved in bioenergy policy in the UK.

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