BNP Paribas Clean Energy Partners Ltd has completed the purchase of the Sleaford Straw-fired Renewable Energy Plant from ECO2 Ltd for its Clean Energy Fund. The completion of the deal marks the inclusion of the first biomass generation in the Fund and a significant step towards the completion of the diversified European portfolio.
The Fund has now completed 10 deals in wind power, solar photovoltaics and now biomass and has assets in Italy, France, UK and Ireland.
Joost Bergsma (pictured), CEO of BNP Paribas Clean Energy Partners, says: “This is a hugely significant deal, not only for the Clean Energy Fund but for the UK biomass industry as a whole. This is the first project-financed deal in UK biomass for five years and will open the way for more projects to follow. We are happy that after a period of uncertainty, the publication of the revised Renewable Obligation Certificates bands by the Department of Energy and Climate Change has allowed the project to achieve closure without further delay.”
The Straw-fired Renewable Energy Plant in Sleaford, Lincolnshire, will have a capacity of 40MW of electricity and will produce enough power to supply 65,000 households. In addition, surplus heat from the plant will be used to benefit the local swimming pool and to heat the Council offices, while ash produced will be recycled to provide fertilizer to support crop production.
Fuel for the plant will be sourced from residues from local farming, and is complementary to the production of existing crops. Straw supply contracts will provide an additional GBP6 million annually to regional farming, supporting jobs in the agriculture industry.
