Korean firms to finance Tees biomass power plant in UK

MGT Power, a UK-based biomass projects developer, has signed a contract with three Korean companies to finance the construction of the £600m Tees Renewable Energy Plant.

KDB Daewoo Securities, Korea South-East Power (KOSEP) and sustainability solutions provider Eco-Frontier will enable the final pre-construction stages of the biomass power station.

The finance contract is expected to close by March 2013.

A declining economy in addition to lack of financial backing and changes in the government’s Renewables Obligation scheme had created several delays to the project.

MGT acting CEO Ben Elsworth said that it has been a difficult period for the UK biomass industry and especially for the company.

"We are very pleased to be working with all three Korean companies, and KOSEP in particular," he added.

Tees is projected to generate about 2.4TWh of electricity a year and displace 1.2 million tons of CO2 annually.

Development of the Tees Renewable Energy Plant is strategic to EU to achieve its renewable energy target of 20% by 2020.

The plant will source sustainable biomass fuels from the UK as well as globally.

With a round the clock production schedule, the plant will produce as much renewable electricity in a year as a 1,000MW wind farm and provide enough electricity to power 600,000 homes in the UK.