The Tees Renewable Energy Plant, being developed by MGT Power, will have a 295 megawatt (MW) capacity, enough to power 600,000 homes in the region. It is scheduled to come into commercial operation in late-2012.

“We are at an advanced stage with forestry establishment for fuel sourcing, and power plant procurement,” says Chris Moore, director of MGT Power. “We can now mandate our banks, conclude the financing and reach agreement with our preferred technology bidders.”

Moore says the company’s cooperation with the local council of Redcar and Cleveland, along with Teesport owners PD Ports and local trade unions was key to fast-tracking the project, which he underlines is “two years ahead of the pack” of other similarly-sized biomass plants being developed in the UK.

The biomass plant will save 1.2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year and account for 5.5% of the UK’s current renewable electricity target.

Feedstock for the plant will be sourced from certified sustainable forestry projects in North and South America and the Baltic States. The trees will come from short rotation forestry developments such as eucalyptus and pine, and short rotation coppicing including willow and poplar.

Some 2.4 million tonnes of woodchips will be burned per year at baseload – 24 hours a day, all year – meaning the plant will generate a similar amount of renewable electricity over a 12-month period as a 1 gigawatt wind farm.