Aker Solution will develop £200m green power station to supply 80,000 homes with energy

Stockton Borough Council has given the green light to a £200m biomass power station in the Tees Valley.

The Gaia Power-owned facility will burn recycled wood chips and supply power to over 80,000 homes.

The scheme will create 400 jobs during the construction process, followed by 50 permanent jobs at the plant and 50 supply-chain positions.

Biomass feed
The plant will use wood chips as fuel

Aker Solutions will develop the 50MW biomass power station at Billingham Reach industrial estate.

Michael Fox, Gaia Power founder and chairman, said: “We have worked long and hard with the region's stakeholders, local industry and residents to ensure that our project ticked all the right boxes and addressed any concerns raised. We are delighted to have received planning permission today.''

The plant should save 430,000 tonnes of CO2 per year, compared with a coal, oil or gas fired power station of a similar size, and is expected to be operational by 2012.

Funding has yet to be arranged, but the team expect it will be entirely from the private sector and is most likely to be a combination of limited recourse debt and independent equity.

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