Britain’s biggest energy supplier Centrica has withdrawn from two biomass planning applications blaming due to a cap on Government subsidy.
Centrica Energy has said that it will not proceed with planning applications to develop dedicated biomass power stations at Roosecote in Barrow-in-Furness and at Glanford Brigg in North Lincolnshire.
It had proposed to build an 80MW biomass power station on the site of its existing facility at Roosecote and a 137MW biomass power station adjacent to its existing gas-fired plant at Brigg.
In a statement, the company said: “While the Government has declared its support for biomass as part of the UK’s future energy mix, recent clarification on the regulatory framework relating to dedicated biomass plants indicates a preference for co-firing and coal conversion to biomass.
“This includes a consultation on a cap on dedicated biomass renewable obligation certificates (ROC), a consultation on greenhouse gas limits on the biomass supply chain not being certain for 20 years, and the likely exclusion of dedicated biomass projects from the new capacity mechanism.”
In July, the Department of Energy and Climate Change said it planned to cut the number of ROCs available for new biomass plants from 1.5 to 1.4 by 2016. It is also considering a cap on the amount of renewable generation that suppliers can meet with power generated from new biomass facilities.
