SembCorp invests £36m in CHP project

SembCorp Utilities UK is to invest £36m in a new Combined Heat and Power (CHP) project to enhance its supply of utilities at the Wilton International site.

SembCorp has signed an agreement with Aker Kvaerner Engineering Services (Aker Kvaerner) to provide the engineering design, construction and commissioning work for the CHP project, which will embrace a gas turbine and heat recovery steam generator. Aker Kvaerner's contract value is £26m.

The unit will be capable of generating 40MW of electricity - enough to power 40 000 homes - which will be used by a range of on-site customers. It will also supply up to 162 tonnes per hour of steam to the site distribution system at Wilton International on Teesside.

The new project will supply the recently announced Ensus bio-ethanol plant and is SembCorp's third major investment in four years. It follows a £20m CHP plant also built by Aker Kvaerner at Wilton Power Station in 2004 and Wilton 10, the £62m wood-fuelled biomass power station due to start operations later this year.

Work will start immediately and the CHP plant is expected to be operational by the end of 2008. The project is likely to sustain around 85 jobs during the construction period.