| Air Products to Outline Plans for a Second Renewable Energy Plant in Tees Valley, UK |
Air Products will outline plans to construct and operate a second renewable energy facility on Teesside, UK at public exhibitions to be held next week. Using the latest advanced gasification technology provided by AlterNRG, the proposed scheme will convert industrial and commercial waste into 50MW of renewable energy. A facility of this size would have the ability to generate the same amount of power that is consumed in 50,000 local homes each year.
Presently the company is constructing its first renewable energy plant on the Reclamation Pond site (next to the North Tees Chemical Complex) near Billingham. It is proposed that this second, separate plant will be located on adjacent land.
Air Products will host an exhibition about its plans next week. The exhibition is an opportunity for local people to learn more about the proposed project and meet the Air Products’ team in advance of a planning application being submitted in a few months’ time.
Lisa Jordan, Business Manager for Bio Energy said: “As with our first renewable energy plant, the availability of skilled labour, industrial land, good access to electrical infrastructure, and excellent road links were important factors in our decision to pursue an additional renewable energy plant in Teesside. Over the next three years, we would create up to 100 permanent jobs and work with local and national firms during construction. We estimate that over 1400 people would be employed during the construction of both plants.”
Alex Cunningham, MP for Stockton North, welcomed Air Products’ latest plans: “I was delighted to play a small part in bringing the first Air Products plant, now under construction, to Teesside but to learn of this huge vote of confidence by the company in our area by confirming a potential second plant is quite stunning and will sustain hundreds of construction jobs over several years. It shows that Teesside is successful at attracting world class technologies and corporations that create jobs and support the country’s renewable energy agenda. By diverting waste from landfill the plant offers an environmentally-friendly solution for the production of renewable energy in the North East”
The renewable energy plant requires planning consent from Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council and an environmental permitting consent from the Environment Agency. As part of this process, Air Products will be consulting over the coming months a range of local and national organisations such as Natural England and Northumbrian Water.
| Nicola Long, Corporate Communications |