Sustainable Renewable and Clean Energy

The Local View
We are planning plants in a number of places around the country.

The plants need to be in areas where there is a good quantity of wood available. This can be in areas of commercial forestry, more usual in Scotland and Northern England. We are also looking in England where large areas of unmanaged woodland could be brought back into management. 

The sites also need to be near heat users, and close to a point where we can easily connect to the electricity grid. Finding this combination is not always easy.

At a glance

  • Estover’s CHP plants are sited in areas where there is sufficient fuel, close to heat users and the grid
  • The building is about the size of a large agricultural unit in area and height, typically on a four to six acre site.
  • We will create a number of local jobs – initially during the building phase, and then in managing the woodland supplying our fuel. We would also employ people directly to run and maintain the plant.
  • Each plant would be sited and built in sympathy with the local environment, and subject to strict planning regulation.

We hope the following questions and answers will help you understand our plans better, and how they would affect your local area.

Where will you site the plants?
Estover is looking at a number of possible sites around the country - mostly brownfield locations. As our plants are small, quiet and clean, they can be sited almost anywhere, with little local impact. We need approximately four to six acres for the buildings and storage for woodchip. Road access for vehicles delivering wood fuel is important. Grid connection is important and can sometimes be expensive.

How big is the CHP plant?
The plant building is about 40,000 square feet and about the size of a large grain silo in height. The entire site is about four acres, including a wood yard.

What about emissions?
The emissions from the steam turbine process are extremely clean and meet all government standards. All the wood fuel is from forestry, so no chemicals or waste enters the process.

Can the heat be used?
Absolutely. All our plants are Combined Heat & Power (CHP) as we want to use all the energy possible. Typically steam will be piped to  businesses - that's why we need to be close to an existing industry.

Where will the fuel come from?
Estover plans to use clean low-grade wood fuel on long-term contracts from forestry and woodland local to the plant. Wood will be delivered by lorry, but some of it may come by tractor. 

How many jobs will Estover create in the local area?
Around 20 new jobs will created to run the power plant, and at least the same again will be created to manage the local forestry - so about 40 jobs in total. As well as this, the low-cost green energy we provide to local industry can help secure existing jobs.

Is it safe?
Yes, the plant is completely safe and contains no harmful materials. All the fuel is locally grown wood – we don’t use contaminated fuel such as waste wood or black bag waste.

What about local wildlife?
We do extensive checks on the site to make sure we don’t disturb anything. In addition, local wildlife will benefit from the enhanced forestry management Estover brings. Many environmental organisations have come out in favour of local biomass energy from clean wood - we're pleased they support this type of energy generation.

If you want to know more about our plans please get in touch by clicking here.
 
© 2011 Estover Energy Ltd.  24 Great King Street Edinburgh EH3 6QN    11-12 Dover Street London W1S 4LJ