Twinwoods goes for 3.4MW biomass burn with Saxlund 08 August 2014

Twinwoods Heat & Power has contracted bio-energy and materials handling firm Saxlund International to supply proven biomass combustion and fuel handling solutions for its 3.4MWe biomass power station, due to open in 2015.

The Bedfordshire CHP (combined heat and power) plant, which uses state-of-the-art clean burn technology, will produce more than 27,000MWhr of electricity and 8,000 MWhr district heating annually.

Marcus Buckle, chief executive of Twinwoods Heat & Power, explains that the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) compliant solution will burn approximately 40,000 tonnes of waste wood from recycling centres per annum, avoiding landfill.

Under the new contract, Saxlund will manage design, manufacture, installation and commissioning of the plant, with a biomass system guaranteed to deliver at least 8,000 hours operation between shutdown inspections.

Key components include the fuel handling system with push floor and conveyors, Saxlund's combustion grate, integrated high pressure steam boiler and steam pipework which feeds the Siemens turbine system.

Buckle says Saxlund was selected, after "thorough and exhaustive" research into its track record both in the UK and Europe.

"We see real opportunities for small-scale locally-based CHP biomass solutions such as Twinwoods in the 2—5MWe range," comments Matt Drew, managing director of Saxlund International.

"Solutions like these capitalise on waste wood that would otherwise be exported, and are driven in part by the RHI [Renewable Heat Incentive], which offers considerable benefits to operators and investors."

"Twinwoods represents exactly the type of investment we are targeting," adds Uniti Bhalla, partner at Capital Partners, a European fund manager underwriting Twinwoods.

"[It is] core infrastructure with some associated complexity, thereby delivering a good risk-adjusted return. We continue to see attractive opportunities in this niche."

BrianTinham

Related Companies
Saxlund International Ltd
Siemens Industry Ltd

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