Subcoal plant construction begins on Teeside

N+P has achieved a financial closure for its Subcoal Energy Pellet Production plant in Teesside, UK. Construction work has commenced with pellet production due to start in July 2019. From start-up the plant will employee more than 30 full time personnel. 

The Subcoal plant will consume 250,000tpa of C&I feedstock and will produce 187,500tpa of Subcoal.  The EPC contractor is Fairport Engineering of Adlington near Chorley in Lancashire.

The Subcoal produced will be of a very high quality with a calorific value being guaranteed above 20MJ/kg, moisture content at about five per cent and chlorine content at about 0.8 per cent. Subcoal contains more than 50 per cent biogenic material. In addition the pellets are odourless, dust free and hydrophobic, which means that the fuel can be handled very easily.

The new Teesport facility will supply pellets to different outlets including Simec Atlantis Energy (SAE) for use in its 220MW coal fired power station conversion to 100 per cent waste derived fuel. SAE acquired  the Uskmouth coal fired power station in Wales earlier this year, and the parties have agreed a fuel supply agreement to supply nearly 1Mta to the Uskmouth power station, once it has been converted to the burning of 100 per cent Subcoal pellets instead of coal. The Uskmouth power station will come online in 2021. This means that in addition to the Teesside plant, N+P have to build and commission a further three Subcoal facilities to support the contract with SAE.