Sita UK Inks Deal to Supply Biomass Plant with Feedstock

The Germany-based company RWE has awarded the U.K.-based waste management firm Sita UK with a long-term contract to supply recovered wood to RWE’s £200 million (US$317.6 million) biomass combined heat and power (CHP) plant at Fife, Scotland.

Under the contract, Sita is expected to provide more than 50 percent of the feedstock requirements to RWE’s 49.9 megawatt (MW) biomass CHP facility in Fife, which is currently under construction. The plant is due to be commissioned in late 2012 and to be fully operational by the middle of 2013.

Sita UK says it will use its existing network of sites in Scotland and northern England to recover and process wood. Sita says it expects to invest as much as £10 million (US$15.9 million) to meet the contracted amount.

In a news release, Torsten Zuber, RWE Innogy head of feedstock management fuel for Europe, says, “We are pleased to have Sita UK as our long-term partner. The company’s commitment to invest in new processing plant and equipment will allow Sita UK to recover greater volumes of wood from their waste management activities, ensuring that good quality fuel is supplied to our specification on a timely, reliable basis. The deal marks a significant milestone which will secure the long term success and viability of the Markinch Biomass CHP plant.”

“We aim to put the resources that we receive from our customers to the best possible use, so using wood that would otherwise go to landfill, to power a local paper mill and also generate electricity for the U.K., is fantastic," says Graham Mayes, Sita UK COO.

According to Sita, when fully operational, RWE’s Fife CHP plant will be the largest of its kind in the United Kingdom. It will provide steam and electricity to the nearby Tullis Russell paper mill.