We'll keep it local - MGT Power

Nov 16 2009 by Kelley Price, Evening Gazette

THE first of the major tenders for building one of the largest electricity- from-biomass plants in the world at Teesport should be granted early in the new year, MGT Power director Chris Moore said.

He was speaking following a presentation last week to 55 potential smaller regional suppliers, the majority from Tees Valley, organised by the Energy Industries Council.

Mr Moore said an economic impact study on an almost simultaneous application to build a sister plant on Tyneside had forecast as much as 60% of the spend would be with local firms.

The dividend for Teesside was likely to be much higher, he said.

“On Teesside, I think there is more industry relevant to this - it could be as much as 70-80%. Over the life of the project there will be a lot of re-engineering and replacement engineering.

“Anything that’s not local on day one, will become local.

“We always said that we wanted to ensure we get as much local involvement from companies and people, from the construction and operations point of view,” he added.

Registration of interests in supplying everything from scaffolding to high refractory advanced process control and continuous emissions monitors for the project are already pouring into MGT Power via a dedicated web-page. Once the five major contractors had been decided, their names would be passed to all those who had registered on the site, said Mr Moore.

“When we have identified them we will notify all those companies that we have been talking to and they will tender to them as subcontractors,” he said. “Our database will be provided to those main contractors and they will have to demonstrate that they are talking to those individual companies. We have an undertaking to employ those methods as part of the planning permission.”

He said the company was aiming for financial closure on the £500m project by February.

Six hundred people are expected to be employed during the three-year construction period for the 295MW capacity plant, which will employ another 150 permanent workers during its lifetime.

Once operating, the plant will contribute about £30m annually to the local economy, said Mr Moore, and meet the electricity needs of approximately 600,000 homes when it enters commercial operation, expected to be in 2012/13. The proposed Tyne Renewable Energy Plant should follow one to two years later, subject to planning and financing.