The Company

Q1. Who is MGT Power?
A1. MGT Power is a project development company that secured the consent of a 295MW biomass generation project on Teeeside (in July 2009) and in the longer term intends to develop other biomass schemes in the UK and the Europe using sustainable forestry sources, crops and agricultural by-products. The company’s management team include Chris Moore, Ben Elsworth, Thiago Azevedo and Noel Forrest who collectively have more than 30 years experience in the UK energy and utility industry.

Q2. Who are the shareholders in MGT Power?
A2. MGT is a privately-owned company. Its shareholders include the company’s senior management team and two UK financial institutions, Trafalgar Asset Managers and MKM Longboat Capital Advisors.

Q3. What is MGT Tyneside?
A3. MGT Tyneside is the project development company for the Tyne Renewable Energy Plant. It’s a wholly owned subsidiary of MGT Power and is the company that will take forward the scheme through the planning and consents process.

Q4. Why is the project being developed?
A4. Biomass schemes of varying sizes and in various locations around the country are being developed as part of the battle to reduce the harmful effects of climate change, replace existing power stations that are scheduled to close within the next 5-10 years and to diversify the UK’s sources of energy.

Q5. Has MGT developed a biomass plant before? Are you working on any other schemes?
A5. In July 2009, MGT secured approval from the UK Government for a similar sized project at Teesport which should enter commercial operation in 2012. MGT’s management team has been involved in numerous other energy projects and has the longest track record in the UK of procurement and supply of large volumes of biomass. MGT is retaining the services of a team of experienced firms who have extensive experience of power plant, planning, engineering, environment and communications. We are investigating other potential projects in the UK and overseas but they are at a sensitive stage in the assessment process so no details can be revealed.

Q6. Will MGT Power operate the Tyne REP plant? If not, who will?
A6. The power station will be run by a team of experienced power station operators either via an Operation and Maintenance (O&M) services contract with a blue chip company, or in the event that we are able to partner with a large UK utility, by their in-house operations team.

Planning Status/Public Consultation

Q1. What is the Tyne REP?
A1. The proposed Tyne REP is a 295 MW biomass power station that will burn woodchip to generate electricity for the equivalent of 600,000 homes, 24 hours a day. The woodchip will be imported by ship from sustainably certified, traceable forestry sources, primarily in Europe and America. The station will help to meet the UK’s renewable energy target of 20% by 2020, accounting for around 5.5% of the renewables target. It will save about 1.2million tonnes of CO₂ per year.

Q2. How does biomass generation actually work?
A2. In many ways, biomass generation is similar to generating electricity using coal or gas, albeit at a smaller scale. However, the critical difference is the use of a “sustainable” fuel source, in this instance woodchip, which allows power generation with extremely low net carbon emissions. The woodchip will be burned to turn a steam turbine, with the power generated going into the local grid.

Q3. Has the Tyneside scheme secured planning approval?
A3. Currently, the project is at the early stages of the planning process, with the scoping document being released to various stakeholders and consultees such as the Environment Agency, the Highways Agency, local authorities in the region and commercial organisations such National Grid. The scoping document was prepared by PB Power on behalf of MGT Power.

Given that the project exceeds 50MW in generation capacity, it requires approval from central government (DECC) under Section 36 of the Electricity Act. However, North Tyneside Council is a key consultee as the Tyne REP is located within its administrative boundaries.

Q4. Have there been any objections to the project?
A4. We will be consulting extensively with national and local organisations (eg the Environment Agency, local councils, the port authority) as well as individuals about a whole range of issues: technical, environmental, engineering, noise, heath & safety etc. Since we announced our plans in early August, we have not received any objections to any aspect of our plans.

Q5. Have you consulted local people about the project?
A5. It is our intention to host an exhibition of our plans in the early autumn. The exhibition will be an opportunity for local people to meet members of the project team and receive further information about the scheme. We will advertise details on this website as well as the local press. We want to hear the views of local people and are happy to answer their questions.

Q6. Does the local council endorse your plans?
A6. The Elected Mayor of North Tyneside Council, Linda Arkley, has publicly welcomed our plans, saying, “Tyne REP would bring substantial benefits to the borough and the wider region, representing an investment of over £400 million, the creation of hundreds of construction jobs, future permanent on-site jobs, 300-400 indirect jobs and an annual spend of £30 million in the local economy. We [North Tyneside Council] are committed to the regeneration of the North Bank of the Tyne and bringing jobs to the area. I welcome the fact that MGT Power Ltd have chosen North Tyneside as their preferred location and look forward to supporting them for the benefit of our residents."

However, whilst these comments are welcome, neither the Mayor nor her Cabinet have any involvement in the determination of the planning application. The MGT Tyne scheme will be considered by the Council’s planning department in accordance with planning policy and by the Council’s planning committee if it’s deemed to be appropriate.

Q7. Why was Port of Tyne chosen as the site to locate a large biomass power station?
A7. The site in the Port of Tyne on the north bank of the river has a number of advantages: available industrial zone land; suitable dockside acreage in a deep water port; good access to the National Grid and associated electrical infrastructure; and excellent road links. The Tyne REP offers all these, making it an ideal site for the plant.

Q8. How large is the site? How close is it to local urban areas?
A8. The 154,000m2 site is located within the Port area, and borders the River Tyne. It is 10km east of Newcastle City Centre and 10km north east of Gateshead City Centre. Nearby communities include North Shields (1.2km to the north east), Percy Main (1km to the north) and Jarrow (1km to the south). It is located less than 1 mile from the Tyne Tunnel and the main A19 arterial road.

Q9. Who owns the site?
A9. The site is owned by the Port of Tyne Authority and so MGT Tyneside has secured a land option for a long term lease of the site with the Port Authority.

Sustainability & Environmental Impact

Q1. What measures will be taken to assess the environmental impact of the Tyne REP?
A1. A comprehensive environmental impact assessment will be carried out by expert consultants in accordance with government legislation. This is an integral part of the development and planning process and it considers a range of issues including emissions, noise, ecology and transport. The EIA report will be prepared by PB Power, an experienced consultancy firm and will be issued to statutory consultees and made available to the general public.

Q2. Doesn’t the carbon footprint of the woodchip as well as Tyne REP’s construction and operation outweigh the savings in CO₂ emissions?
A2. We have carefully analysed the full life cycle CO₂ impact of all aspects of the project, including, most importantly, emissions from the cultivation, processing and transport of wood chip. Even when shipping biomass over considerably large distances, the savings in polluting greenhouse gas emissions versus fossil fuel based electricity are still extremely high – 90% versus natural gas or 95% versus coal. Fossil fuels themselves must also be mined, processed and transported, causing additional emissions to their direct emissions, while biomass is fundamentally carbon neutral in nature since re-growth replaces harvest creating a closed loop of carbon. We have estimated that our plant will save over 52m tonnes of CO₂ during its lifetime.

Q3. How can you guarantee the sustainability of the woodchip and other crops that you might use to burn?
A3. We believe the responsibility to ensure the sustainability of biomass lies with those procuring that biomass, and thus we have drawn up a set of sustainability guiding principles, available at www.mgtpower.com/sustainability, to guide all our biomass procurement activities. In addition to ensuring lasting greenhouse gas savings from our activities, these incorporate additional social and economic considerations, in line with the agenda of sustainable development. For one thing, we are committed to ensuring that our biomass is certified sustainable by the most suitable, internationally recognised standard, and we believe in going beyond these schemes by targeting the globally abundant marginal land resource, which holds great potential for sustainable bioenergy production without competition for land space with nature or food crops. MGT is an ongoing contributor to biomass sustainability policy development, in part through sponsorship of IEA task 40 (www.bioenergytrade.org).

Q4. Will there be any harmful emissions from the plant?
A4. The plant will not be emission-free but the emissions (including CO₂ , NOx and dust particulates) will be kept to a minimum by the appropriate selection of woodchip and the use of the very latest emission reduction technologies. Emissions to the air will adhere to strict EA guidelines and will be strictly monitored at all times as part of the planning conditions. They will be released through a 95m stack.

Q5. Could a CHP plant be accommodated on the site?
A5. Ideally, CHP for local industry will be included in the scheme but this is subject to securing an offtake agreement. We will talk to local industry to gauge the level of interest as CHP will help make the plant more efficient and offers industry the potential for cheaper electricity.

Q6. What are the CO₂ savings of the plant?
A6. Tyne REP will save up to 52million tonnes of CO₂ over its lifetime and will contribute over 3% of the UK’s mandatory Kyoto emissions reductions. In addition, it will be able to supply about 2.4TWh, or 3%, of the UK’s bio-energy target.

Q7. Will the Port of Tyne and local residents be affected by any noise from the plant? What about the plant’s visual impact?
A7.A detailed noise assessment will be carried out as part of the EIA process. We can’t hide a power station such as this but given its industrial location and the job it is doing, we consider it to be appropriate. The tallest structures would be the stack at 95m and the boiler house at 55m), but most of the other buildings will be relatively low, no more than 6m in height.

Design, Build & Operation

Q1. When do you plan to start construction? When will Tyne REP open for business?
A1. Assuming we secure planning approval from the UK Government, the financing is in place, and the main tenders are awarded, we are targeting construction start in 2011/12 and commercial operations in 2014/15.

Q2. Is the technology proven?
A2. The Tyne REP will be the largest boiler of its type in the world to burn pure biomass. However there are several examples of similar size (300MWe) boilers in the world which burn lignite, a fossil fuel with similar energy properties to biomass. Currently the largest biomass boiler, in Finland, is capable of producing 240MW, but the boiler manufacturers do not see any technical barrier in increasing the size to 300MW.

Q3. What about a grid connection?
A3. The site is close to the NGT transmission system and we have secured a transmission contract from NGT (National Grid) to export power from the site in 2014.

Q4. How much woodchip is needed to generate power?
A4. The Tyne REP will be fuelled by around 2.4m tonnes of clean woodchip per year, with up to 200,000 tonnes capable of being stored under cover on the site.

Q5. How long is the construction period? Will there be any effect on the local area?
A5. The construction period is about 3 years so assuming we secure consent and financing this year, Tyne REP could enter commercial operation by 2014/2015. Level of traffic into and out of the site by road will increase during construction but as we have done with Redcar & Cleveland Council for our Teesport project, we will wish to agree a “green travel plan” with the local council to manage the impact. The number of abnormal loads is likely to be no more than half-a dozen during the whole construction period, and on those occasions we would liaise with the relevant authorities to minimise any disturbance or traffic disruption.

Socio-Economic Benefits

Q1. How many new jobs will be created?
A1. A project of this scale and nature will mean a large number of people involved in the plant’s construction, mainly working for specialist firms.  Assuming we secure planning permission, about 600 people will be employed during the construction phase, with about 150 permanent jobs created to operate and maintain the plant, and associated port operation. We can also expect a significant number of indirect jobs to be secured for the local economy through the use of local service companies, local shops, hotel accommodation etc.

Q2. Can you guarantee that British companies and workers will be given the jobs?
A2. MGT Tyneside will strongly encourage the major project contractors to use local companies and local materials where possible. The North East has a strong history in engineering and the power sector and when we announced our plans in August, we received a large number of calls from local firms wishing to get involved as well as people contacting us directly looking for jobs.

Q3. Will farmers/foresters in the North East and other parts of the UK have the opportunity to supply the plant?
A3. We hope that the region’s farming community (and elsewhere in the UK) will consider the opportunities that could exist with Tyne REP (and the sister plant at Teesport) and we would be happy to talk with anyone that is interested. We anticipate that Tyne REP could take about 200,000 tonnes per annum from the local area, approximately £16m in value to the local economy. The UK Government, in its Renewable Energy Strategy published in July, highlighted the opportunities that could exist for farmers in cultivation of biomass in the UK.