BEI-Teesside is a planned

biomass Biomass is a term used in several contexts: in the context of ecology it means living organisms, and in the context of bioenergy it means matter from recently living (but now dead) organisms. In the latter context, there are variations in how ...

power station, expected to be built on the

River Tees The River Tees (), in England, rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines and flows eastwards for to reach the North Sea in the North East of England. The modern-day history of the river has been tied with the industries ...

Port Clarence Port Clarence is a small village in the borough of Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, England. It is on the north bank of the River Tees, and near the northern end of the Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge. History Formerly known as Samphire Batts, ...

County Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...

, England.

Development

The scheme was first announced in late 2009. It was developed by Bio Energy Investments (BEI), and the plant designed by Heatherwick Studio. The plant was granted planning permission on 17 March 2010, with construction expected to start later that year. The plant was expected to be completed in 2012, at a cost of £150 million, creating 200 construction jobs and 40 full-time jobs when the plant is complete. The land earmarked for the construction of the plant is a 6-hectare

brownfield site Brownfield is previously-developed land that has been abandoned or underused, and which may carry pollution, or a risk of pollution, from industrial use. The specific definition of brownfield land varies and is decided by policy makers and l ...

alongside the

Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge The Tees Transporter Bridge, also referred to as the Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge or, locally, as The Transporter, is a bridge over the River Tees in northern England. The northern side is in Port Clarence (Stockton-on-Tees) and the souther ...

, unused for 50 years since the Clarence Iron Works were demolished. The plant would occupy 2 hectares of the site, with the rest being landscaped. The prospect of the plant being built was initially put into doubt in June 2011 when BEI announced that without financial support from the

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

, they would cancel the scheme, with the company being wound up. Construction began in January 2016.

Specification

The plant is expected to be fueled by reprocessed pine kernel shells, to generate 49

megawatt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...

s of electricity, enough to power 50,000 homes.

References

{{Authority control Power stations in North East England Buildings and structures in County Durham Proposed biofuel power stations Proposed renewable energy power stations in England