Valmet, Finland, has handed over a new biomass boiler and flue gas treatment for RWE Innogy U.K.’s Markinch combined heat and power plant (CHP). The process has been running since July following a commissioning period and test-runs. The plant is located in Fife, Scotland, and is the largest of its type in the U.K. The plant provides the Tullis Russell Papermakers with steam and electricity to run the facilities. In addition, excess electricity is exported to the grid.

 

The new plant helps Tullis Russell reduce its fossil fuel emissions and contributes to Scotland's ambitious renewable energy targets. Replacing the paper mill's 60-year-old coal-fired plant with this new biomass-fired plant reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 250,000 metric tpy. Also, the amount of waste wood currently ending up at the landfill emitting methane as it decays is reduced since the main fuel for Valmet's CYMIC boiler is recovered waste wood.

 

The new biomass boiler provides the Tullis Russell paper mill with a more sustainable, efficient, and reliable supply of steam and electricity. 

 

"RWE is delighted to take the CYMIC boiler into operation as part of the largest portfolio of renewable energy technologies in the U.K. The biomass boiler will help provide steam and electricity to the adjacent Tullis Russell paper mill and export electricity to the National Grid while significantly reducing carbon dioxide emissions. The successful handover is the culmination of close cooperation and partnership between RWE and Valmet since 2010 and is testament to the dedication of the Valmet team," said Robert Dunk, RWE project engineering manager. 

 

The CHP plant's installed capacity is 50 MWe. It has the capability to supply up to 120 metric tons of industrial steam per hour for paper manufacturing. Out of the produced electricity, the paper mill will consume approximately 17 MW and approximately 25 MW will be delivered to the grid. 

 

The plant has been in commercial operation since February of this year, with the full handover of the plant originally planned for this date later in the year.

 

"This project was pretty massive both from the size and timescales involved. To put it into perspective, the CHP plant fills an area equivalent to the size of four football pitches and more than 1 million man hours have been invested in its construction. At the height of the construction process, there were around 650 people employed at the whole site with around half of them working at our boiler site," describes Valmet's Project Manager Peter Anson.

 

Valmet's CYMIC boiler utilizes proven circulating fluidized bed (CFB) technology. The boiler's capacity is 155 MWth and it is fuelled by approximately 90% recovered waste wood and approximately 10% virgin wood, sourced from sustainably managed forests. The biomass requirement is around 400,000 metric tpy. New technology in the boiler makes it possible to reduce required shutdown time as well.