Heat and power plant go-ahead
STOCKTON planners have given approval to a multi-million pound combined heat and power plant on Teesside.
ConocoPhillips, which operates the Norsea Oil terminal at Seal Sands, first unveiled plans to build a liquefied natural gas re-gasification facility and combined heat and power plant at the terminal in 2005, then estimated to cost at up to £500m.
Yesterday, Stockton’s planning committee approved the combined heat and power plant plans, which must now be considered by the Government.
A spokeswoman for ConocoPhillips was unable to provide further details of the scheme.
The generating plant will provide 800MW of electricity as well as steam for local industry.
ConocoPhillips also plans to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) to its Teesside terminal. The LNG, is then returned to a gaseous state and piped into the UK’s National Transmission System.
Martyn Pellew, group development director for PD Ports, which leases berths to ConocoPhillips, said the planning approval was “great news for the Tees Valley”.
“This is a long-term project that will take some time to come to fruition, but it brings another energy source into the area, which is good news for business.
“This is also a long-term commitment to us as a business and to the Tees Valley.”
Meanwhile, consent has been granted for a Stokesley company’s plans to build a £500m gas-fired power station at Carrington, Manchester.
The 860MW plant will be located on industrial land at the site of the former coal-fired Carrington Power Station in Trafford, alongside the Manchester Ship Canal and the River Mersey, and will generate enough electricity to supply 500,000 homes.
The Government’s Department of Business Employment and Regulatory Reform has issued the outline consent to Bridestones Developments.
Consent had originally been granted for a smaller plant at the site in 2007.
Bridestones spokesman Mike Benson said: “We are delighted the Government has approved our plans and we will now focus on the design details and a construction programme.”
It is expected construction will start next year and the plant will be operational in 2012.
The project will create up to 600 construction jobs and about 50 permanent jobs.
Gas-fired power plants emit half as much carbon dioxide as coal plants and burn fuel more efficiently. They currently account for approximately 40% of the UK’s electrical output, but they do not count towards the Government’s target of achieving 20% of the electricity mix from renewable sources by 2020 - a target agreed with Europe only last year, but one for which Government enthusiasm is believed to have cooled.
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