Energy Power Resources (EPR), has opened what it says is the UK’s first and the world’s largest and most efficient straw fired straw-fired power station. The plant was developed by EPR Ely, a partnership between EPR and Cinergy Global Power.
The 36 MW plant uses new techniques to burn surplus straw to generate over 270Gwh of electricity per year; enough to power 80,000 homes or two towns the size of Cambridge. The straw is burned on a specially developed grate that maximises emissions. Advanced flue gas treatment systems clean the combustion gases to well within Environment Agency limits before they are released into the atmosphere.
Each year the plant consumes over 200,000 tonnes of straw, which is collected from farms within a 50 mile radius. The straw is supplied in Hesston Bales weighing in excess of half a tonne and each 2.5m long with a square cross-section 1.2m across. One year’s supply of bales would stretch from London to John O’Groats if laid end to end – and yet this would only represent 2 per cent of the UK’s surplus straw.