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FORUM FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY DEVELOPMENT IN SCOTLAND - PROMOTING AND ACCELERATING THE MARKET PENETRATION OF BIOMASS TECHNOLOGY IN SCOTLAND
INFRASTRUCTURE ISSUES
Electricity Grid
37. Biomass plants for power generation make more efficient use of available capacity in the distribution and transmission network than other forms of renewable power. A biomass power station could be expected to operate for over 8,000 hours per year at rated capacity. The existing electricity infrastructure, which was designed to support traditional patterns of generation, will require to be substantially upgraded in order to facilitate the full exploitation of Scotland's renewable electricity resources. While new generation not exceeding minimum local demand can currently be connected to the distribution system, a greater number of such embedded generation plants may necessitate the strengthening of this system. The three transmission companies in Great Britain - National Grid Transco, Scottish Power Transmission Ltd and Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission Ltd - have also brought forward a number of proposals for the upgrading of the transmission grid. The regulator, Ofgem, announced in August 2004 that it was consulting on proposals to permit additional investment in the Scottish electricity transmission network to help support growth in renewables generation. BEG welcomes this development and believes that the upgrades will play a central role in the expansion of the renewable electricity sector, including, of course, enabling additional output from biomass plants to be released onto the electricity grid.
38. Short to medium term restrictions on access to the grid at distribution and transmission voltages could constrain the deployment of all renewable generation in Scotland including biomass. It is essential that efforts are made by Ofgem, the distribution network operators and the transmission operator to ensure fair and financially secure access to the electrical grid at all levels. BEG believes that Scottish generation, both transmission and distribution, should not be placed at a competitive disadvantage when compared with comparable generation based in England and Wales under the new British Electricity Trading and Transmission Arrangements (BETTA).
Transport
37. Transporting wood fuel is a major issue for the development of a biomass industry in Scotland. Current estimates suggest that a significant proportion of the overall cost of wood supplied to existing markets can be transportation costs. Transport costs are a limiting factor in the price and financial viability of biomass as a fuel. Well located biomass projects, including co-location of integrated energy users of electricity and heat, and innovation in the supply chain present opportunities to reduce cost. Transporting wood fuel by road could also be a significant planning issue for biomass developments.
38. Over recent years there have been increasing reports of haulage operations coming into conflict with Local Authority road requirements and the expectations of communities. This issue has been recognised in the Partnership for a Better Scotland, and the Scottish Executive's Scottish Forestry Strategy which stated that enhancement to transport infrastructure was essential to maximise the value of Scotland's forest resources.
39. The Timber Transport Forum was established as a government / industry partnership in 2000 to provide a mechanism for sharing ideas and best practice. The Forum welcomed the establishment of a Strategic Timber Transport Fund which the Scottish Executive has recently announced.
40. Other initiatives aimed at overcoming local transport problems include agreements between the Forestry Commission and private foresters to develop strategic routes to remove timber. These agreements are generally developed in conjunction with other local interests, such as Local Authorities, which has resulted in a wider focus for works aimed at improving infrastructure for rural communities more generally. The development of biomass plants may lead to an increase in energy crops being planted close to the demand, and would provide a valuable opportunity to minimise the transport element associated with the use of biomass as a fuel.
41. Journey distances by road should also be minimised wherever possible, and that alternative means of transport are utilised where available. While transportation will add to the CO2 costs of biomass fuels, the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution believes that these emissions are more than offset by the very low conversion emissions, making biomass even more favourable compared to the fossil fuel alternatives. Nevertheless, it remains important that all steps possible are taken to reduce the distances over which the fuel resource is transported.
42. There is some potential for transport using rail and ship, particularly to the larger plants, and this should be encouraged where this can be shown to be practical and viable. Otherwise, BEG believes that the use of local wood fuel in biomass plant located in or close to areas of supply will offer the most sustainable way forward for Scottish biomass development. There may also be opportunities to develop integrated sites where wood processing and generation using co-products can be encouraged to co-locate. This also fits with the Government's wider aims to reduce carbon emissions by discouraging long distance transportation of fuel and to encourage the use of CHP to maximise energy conversion efficiency.
43. The conversion of existing industrial sites to use biomass for heat and/or power may mean that transportation of wood fuel may be required over some distance although this would be offset if energy crops were subsequently planted locally. Conditioning of wood fuel material at source by stockpiling and air-drying is part of the undeveloped wood fuel supply chain. It would reduce overall transport costs by maximising usable energy transported per truck load, and by reducing moisture content. It would be a trade-off between reduced transport costs and increased wood fuel costs as working capital is tied up in stockpiles during air-drying.
Supply Chain Infrastructure
44. While the marketplace has still to determine how viable supplies of wood fuel materials can be made available for energy projects, one possible scenario is as follows. The wood fuel for use in biomass plants could be obtained by utilising the tops and branches of harvested trees and from the secondary products of the sawmilling industry. Forests could be managed with a view to providing raw material to the sawmilling, pulp and board, and biomass industries. Trees could be harvested in such a fashion that all products are recovered as cost-efficiently as possible. The biomass component could be removed in so-called integrated harvesting systems with product separation in the forest. In some cases the tops and branches might be recovered in a second pass operation. The biomass component might be chipped at site to allow more efficient loading to trailers of transport which would be loaded directly from the chipper/trailer. Alternatively, coniferous brash (lop and top) might be baled in the forest, using currently available Scandinavian brash baling technology, thereby compacting the material for efficient extraction and transport on conventional round timber lorries. Such bales can be stacked, stored and dried before chipping and immediately prior to burning at the power/heat plant. Some short term storage of the fuel might be required and this would be managed with a view to reducing moisture content. Some mixing of biomass fuels of different moisture content might be required to meet the specifications of the conversion facility. The diagram which follows depicts this process.
45. The forest industry has already proved innovative in response to a changing market, for example in relation to in-forest chipping, harvesting etc. However, further innovative solutions will be required if the overall efficiency of this sector is to be improved and environmental impact reduced. This would include the development of more specialised harvesting, chipping and extraction machinery to efficiently create the feed stock. This may require support from the public sector via new or existing capital / innovation schemes.
46. There is a lack of biomass equipment manufacturers both in Scotland and indeed in the UK as a whole. Industrial scale CHP and power generation projects are of bespoke design and would use equipment from suppliers around Europe (and elsewhere). The opportunity exists however for strategic collaborations with other countries to engage in formalised technology transfer to encourage local manufacture of proven biomass equipment in Scotland under licence. This possibility should be explored.
47. As the biomass sector grows, it will be necessary to put in place skills training and accreditation to ensure that Scottish service companies in the energy and forestry sub-sectors of the economy are familiar with wood fuels (preparation and trading) and with the related biomass equipment including wood fuel handling and storage.
Actions
- New biomass plants for CHP and power generation should, where possible, be located in or close to areas of wood fuel availability to minimise possible transport difficulties and costs. The forestry and biomass energy sectors should consider developing integrated sites which would attract a range of wood using activities.
- The Scottish Executive and the Enterprise Networks should consider appropriate means to support supply chain infrastructure innovation and development, and with others, should consider local manufacturing of established non-UK products under licence; they should also consider the need for appropriate skills and training.
- Ofgem, the distribution network operators and the transmission operator should ensure fair and financially secure access to the electrical grid at all levels.
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