(1888PressRelease)
October 31, 2009 - PD Ports has received Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) consent from the Marine and Fisheries Agency (MFA) in relation to the QEII berth redevelopment at Teesport.
This formal consent together with its associated licences enables PD Ports to proceed with the construction of the new 260 metre long berth, which is an integral part of MGT Power’s Tees Renewable Energy Plant development at the Port. The new berth will accommodate vessels up to 240 metres long and 38 metres wide, accommodating the world’s largest modern woodchip carrier vessels and providing MGT Power with considerable freight flexibility. The berth will bring the 2.4 million tonnes of woodchip each year, required to fuel the new power station.
The 295 megawatt (MW) wood fuelled power station is to be built on the South Dock area of Teesport. One of the world’s largest biomass plants set to be built in the UK, this £500 million investment will produce enough carbon neutral, sustainable electricity to power 600,000 homes across the North East.
Jerry Hopkinson, PD Ports’ managing director, bulks, ports and logistics, said: “This is another very significant step forward on the project and we are pleased to have received consent in a very short timeframe. The confirmation of the EIA consent has been a joint effort between PD Ports and MGT Power, working closely with the regulators and we very much look forward to seeing this major environmentally friendly power project begin construction.”
Chris Moore, director at MGT Power, added: “This news continues to give strong supportive messages about our plans to build the Tees Renewable Energy Plant at Teesport and maintains our great progress towards a world class facility.
“We are delighted to hear that environmental consent has now been granted. We have received tremendous interest from third parties wanting to get involved in the construction of the power station. We aim to start work on the site in the first quarter of 2010, subject to finance.”
In July, MGT Power received the final approval from the Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) to proceed with the Tees Renewable Energy Plant (known as the Section 36 approval). This followed initial planning approval from Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council in November 2008.
In October, MGT Power announced that Tesco is furthering its commitment to cutting its carbon footprint by entering into an agreement with MGT Power’s Tees Renewable Energy Plant to supply 100% of its power requirement for Tesco’s Teesport import warehouse.
MGT Power: key facts & background
The project is a 295MW (megawatt) base load renewable electricity generator, and one of the world’s largest renewable energy projects of any type. The project will bring over £500m of investment into the local area during its 3 year construction period, meaning 600 construction jobs followed by 150 onsite jobs for up to 40 years. Once operational, the renewable plant will spend over £30m per year on maintenance and support services. With the Tees Valley’s core industrial expertise and experience most of this spending is set to be absorbed by local labour and firms sustaining 300-400 indirect jobs each year for the local economy.
The 295MW plant will be constructed on land adjacent to the main southern dock at Teesport, on the south bank of the River Tees. In addition to its deep-water facilities, the plant is well served by arterial transport routes such as the A66, A19, A1 and the main East coast rail network.
It is also close to the National Grid electricity transmission system and MGT Teesside – the developer for the project and wholly-owned subsidiary of MGT Power Ltd – has a transmission contract with the National Grid Company to export power from the site from 2012.
The project will comprise a single, circulating fluidised bed boiler that will burn wood chip to produce steam. The steam will be used to turn a steam turbine, which will in turn power a generator to produce electricity.
Once operational in late 2012, the plant will save 1.2m tonnes of CO2 per year and will account for 5.5% of the UK’s renewable electricity target.
About PD Ports:
• PD Ports Limited was formed following the successful takeover of PD Ports plc by Babcock and Brown Infrastructure (ASX: BBI) in February 2006.
• PD Ports is a high performing specialist ports business offering a wide variety of supply chain services to improve customers’ international product and material movements into and out of – as well as within – the UK.
• PD Ports employs over 1140 members of staff, and generates an annual turnover of over £120 million from many UK locations.
• PD Ports operates throughout the UK from bases at many key ports and logistics centres.
• The 3 business interests of PD Ports are:
Port Operations– is split into two business streams – bulks and unitised and includes:
Teesport: one of the top 3 UK ports, with flows of containers, bulk traffics and finished cars, handling over 40 million tonnes of throughput p.a.
Humber & Small Ports: owners and/or operators of ports on the Humber estuary, Rivers Trent and Ouse, and at Medina Wharf, Isle of Wight. Service offerings include ships’ agency, chartering and stevedoring services.
Logistics: PD Logistics offers warehousing and distribution services at UK locations throughout the North East, Humberside & East Anglia, including at Felixstowe. Please visit www.pdlogistics.com
Development plans for Port Operations include:
• The Northern Gateway Container Terminal: a major new deep sea container terminal planned at Teesport on the South side of the River Tees. The £300+ million development will have a capacity of 1.5 million TEU (twenty foot equivalent unit) and is anticipated to deliver over 5,500 jobs to the Tees Valley, when fully operational. Please visit www.thenortherngateway.co.uk
• Portcentric Logistics: a new concept promoted by PD Ports for locating the storage and distribution of imported goods close to the point of arrival at a UK port. This concept avoids the slow handling and return of empty containers as well as eradicating unnecessary UK road mileage, which occurs when delivering to a traditional inland import centre, such as in the Midlands.
In 2006 ASDA Wal*Mart opened a 360,000 sq ft import centre at Teesport and has saved more than 2 million road miles by adopting the portcentric concept. Adjacent to the ASDA facility, Tesco operates a purpose built 1.2 million sq ft import centre at Teesport, which opens in 2009
o Conservancy – this includes:
Management of river traffic for the ports of Tees and Hartlepool, ensuring safe navigation and maintaining the required channel depth.
o Property– this includes:
Revenue and income from property and facilities owned by PD Ports and used by third party clients on long term leases.
Land that is not utilised for operational purposes and offers potential for development.
For further information, contacts, interviews or related images … please contact:
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Initial press enquiries to:
Toby Anderson
PR Manager
Image Line Communications Ltd.
(t) + 44 (0) 20 7689 9009
(f) + 44 (0) 20 7689 8008
(e) toby ( @ ) imageline dot co dot uk
www.imageline.co.uk
Please visit www.pdports.co.uk
PD Ports contact: Kirsten Potter,
PR & Communications Manager
01642 877026 or 07794 215 670
kirsten.potter ( @ ) pdports dot co dot uk
Port land at Hartlepool docks, which is highly attractive to the growing renewable energy sector, including offshore, windfarms, and biomass plants. PD Ports’ long term strategy is to further develop Hartlepool
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