New biomass power plant in Yorkshire to create up to 80 jobs

The announcement by HRS Energy is the latest clean energy development boost for Hull and the Humber region.

It follows confirmation last month that the world’s largest offshore wind farm is also being developed off the Yorkshire coast.

The new 22MW biomass plant is to be built in Tasterne, in the East Riding, and the technology used will be made by a Hull company. It will be built and operational by the end of March 2017 and will generate enough power to supply 11,000 homes.

Hull based HRS Energy said it will also make a significant contribution to cutting CO2 emissions as a similar sized power station using fossil fuels would produce 160,000 tons of CO2 each year – the equivalent to the annual emissions of 33,000 cars.

The firm said the plant will use HRS Energy’s combustion, heat recovery and power module technology which will be manufactured in Hull by CF Struthers.

HRS said this would ensure a local supply chain to “minimise costs and emissions and maximise local benefit”.

The new plant’s opening was announced yesterday by HRS with Hull East MP Karl Turner.

HRS Energy’s managing director Mark Wickham, said: “Our pioneering technology is the best available for this development, delivering cost and efficiency benefits while producing low levels of emissions. Thanks to our efficient standardised modular design, the plant will be operational and generating electricity for homes and businesses in just over a year.

“We are looking forward to building on this success, and developing our market-leading technology for projects across the country and worldwide.”

Mr Turner said: “It is great that we have yet more investment being made in East Hull.

“These highly skilled manufacturing jobs are further good news for the area and build on Hull’s reputation as a world leader in providing clean energy.

“This £35m investment into the local area shows that companies have confidence that Hull is the place to do business and has the work force to deliver.”

Yesterday Mr Turner visited high-tech manufacturing firm CF Struthers – which will be used by HRS to produce the renewable technology.

HRS says its system burns biomass more efficiently than other comparable methods.

The firm’s statement said: “The technology has the potential to transform the efficiency performance of biomass power plant infrastructure worldwide and a high level of interest has already been expressed, especially in the USA and Mexico.”

HRS also said the Hull development will be the first in a pipeline of projects the firm is working on both in the UK and abroad.

The contract to build the plant was initially placed with HRS Energy in September 2015, and planning permission was granted in January this year.

It is hoped clean energy can become a major industry for the region.

Last month Dong Energy confirmed that it is to build the world’s largest offshore windfarm off the Yorkshire coast which will bring further investment into the Humber region.

The Danish energy giant has said that a proportion of the blades being used for the “multi-billion” 1.2 gigawatt farm 75 miles offshore, which will power one million homes, will come from the new Siemens turbine factory in Hull.