Once operational, the plant will generate over 6.5 MW of renewable electricity and save approximately 12,700 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per year. The funds will come from the Equitix-managed Energy Savings Investments (ESI), in which GIB is a cornerstone investor. Equitix Energy Efficiency Fund (EEEF) will provide an additional £15 million of private capital.
The plant will be built in Sheffield’s Holbrook district and the project has been developed by UYE (UK) Ltd. It will be built as Combined Heat and Power (CHP) ‘ready’ with the potential to supply heat to more than 6,700 local homes and commercial properties. The electricity will be sold to GDF Suez UK under a long-term power offtake agreement. Veolia Energy Services Ltd will undertake long-term operations and maintenance.
Specialist district heating design & build engineering firm Kantor Energy Ltd will act as the EPC Principal Contractor. Biomass specialists VAS Energy Systems International GmbH will supply the biomass boiler and flue gas cleaning systems. Turboden Srl will supply the clean electricity generation equipment. The project is expected to create 60 jobs during the construction phase with a further 15 full-time positions once the plant is operational.
“We are very pleased to be able to help UYE realise its vision of a highly-efficient, smaller-scale, CHP ready plant” said Ed Northam, Head of Investment Banking, UK Green Investment Bank. “It is a project that typifies the role of the GIB in helping developers to utilise innovative technology to create new sources of green power to cut carbon emissions and create important local benefits for communities.”
Geoff Jackson, Chief Executive Director, Equitix, added that closing the deal marks a significant milestone for the company. The project will be the first community-scale biomass project in Equitix’s energy efficiency portfolio but the company is expecting to close similar deals in the near future.
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