Time forgrowing green
ACRES of trees are being harvested for eco-energy at Wilton.
A green oasis in the midst of the Tees Valley’s industrial heartland, the trees were planted by Sembcorp UK to prove the business benefits of planting short-rotation coppice (SRC) to farmers.
At eight hectares, the yield will hardly be enough to scratch the surface of the feedstock needed to fuel Wilton 10, Sembcorp’s £60m biomass station, which is the first in the UK to be totally wood-burning.
But the company is using the successful first harvesting to send a clear message to farmers that planting coppice makes sound financial sense.
A handful of farmers in the Tees Valley have begun growing SRC alongside conventional crops.
The yield from willow can be up to ten oven dry tonnes per hectare - similar to a good wheat crop - yet little maintenance is needed for SRC, which nudges profit margins higher than those for cereal crops.
Sembcorp, which needs around 300,000 tonnes of biomass a year for Wilton 10, is currently buying SRC at a fixed price of £61 per oven dry tonne.
Robin Twizell, managing director of Sedgefield company Renewable Energy from Agriculture, grows short-rotation coppice for biomass feedstock.
He said: “Coppice is low maintenance, you plant, harvest and it regenerates itself. Overheads are low because there’s no need for tractor diesel, chemicals or fertilisers, or time spent working the land.
“It’s a long-term decision, it takes four years from planting to the first harvest, but SRC is a stable market and can be far more profitable than high-input crops. Other farmers might find it works well with their activities.”
Barbara Hilton, Sembcorp’s energy crops manager, said: “This is a whole new outlet for farmers which ten years ago didn’t exist. Ideally, Sembcorp needs around 55,000 tonnes of SRC a year.
“The process is carbon neutral - the tree growth offsets the produced by the power station - and it’s also good for the region’s biodiversity because of the birds and wildlife it attracts.
“SRC is a guaranteed market. Any questions that farmers have about growing it, we will be happy to answer.”
The Wilton 10 site can generate 30 MW of electricity, enough to supply around 30,000 homes and businesses. It created 400 jobs during its construction.
See a video of the coppice harvesting at www.nebusiness.co.uk
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