Biomass CHP plant opens in Scotland

Scotland’s Minister for Business, Energy and Tourism, Fergus Ewing MSP, has opened the major new Markinch biomass-fuelled combined heat and power (CHP) plant in Glenrothes, Fife.

Constructed and operated by RWE Innogy, the new plant replaces the former 1950s coal and gas-fired CHP station on the site of paper and board manufacturer Tullis Russell. It represents a reduction in fossil fuel related carbon dioxide emissions by around 250,000 tonnes per annum.

The new facility provides all of Tullis Russell's electricity and steam requirements, with excess electricity generation being fed into local networks. The plant will reduce site carbon emissions by 72% and help to safeguard the future of the 500 jobs at the Markinch base.

The plant is fuelled by both recovered and virgin wood, with virgin logs being chipped at the Off-site Fuel Processing Facility at the former Bowhill Colliery site in Cardenden. Each month, the facility chips up to 6,500 tonnes of virgin wood supplied from a number of certified sources. The site can also store 25,000 tonnes of recovered wood each year. The recovered wood is diverted from landfill.

The project was financed, in part, with an £8mn Regional Selective Assistance grant from the Scottish Government, and Forestry Commission Scotland has also helped underpin the investment with a long-term contract for timber supply to the plant.