Eco2

Source: Energy Digital

Date :05/12/2007 17:18:36

Eco2 is responsible for some of the most exciting renewable energy projects in the world. The latest is a straw-fired power station in Lincolnshire, UK

Written by Abigail Saltmarsh and produced by Alex Smith

For David Williams, renewable energy is more than just his job - it’s his passion. CEO of his third highly successful renewable energies company, he has been in the business for almost 20 years and now oversees many of the UK’s most interesting projects.

Cardiff-based Eco2 specialises in initiating, developing, financing and operating renewable energy projects. It was set up in 2002 and now focuses on projects ranging from wind farms through to landfill gas, biomass and tidal power.

“I have been in renewables for more than 18 years now and it is something I still very much enjoy and find challenging. We have been involved in some very exciting projects and will be rolling more out over the coming months,” he says.

Eco2 is investing in renewable energy projects before delivering them to the operating owner. Today there are 30 companies beneath the Eco2 umbrella yet the main development company is deliberately a break-even outfit because it contains all of the early project costs.

“This system has given us a presence in a range of industries, with each business netting its own profits,” he explains. “Each project is basically a shell company until the point at which planning permission is obtained, then the assets are handed over and it suddenly has an enormous value.”

David Williams, who holds a degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, as well as post-graduate qualifications in Accountancy, Finance and Business Management, first began to work in the field of renewable energy while at South Wales Electricity (SWALEC) in the 1990s. Here he was tasked with starting and growing a renewable energy company.

In the mid-90s, he left SWALEC to start up Energy Power Resources (EPR), which, in a six-year period, became Europe’s largest biomass company.

While CEO at EPR, David Williams oversaw the development and construction of the world’s largest straw-fired power station at Ely in Cambridge, the world’s first fluidised bed chicken litter project at Fife in Scotland and the world’s first tyre pyrolysis unit at Aalborg in Denmark.

In 2002, Eco2 was set up as a business supplying power from renewable sources to Economy Power. When Economy Power was sold in 2004, however, another start-up was required.

“We basically had to reinvent ourselves as we didn’t have a source of funds, a power purchaser or an equity investor in projects, so we decided to create a company that would effectively develop renewable assets,” he explains.

Straw-fired power

Since then, Eco2 has grown quickly. The Frampton Landfill site, near Gloucester, for example, situated at RMC Cemex landfill site, started generating electricity in August 2004. The project produces up to 1,400kW of renewable energy by burning landfill gas. This is enough to supply the equivalent of 2,600 homes.

The Lyme and Wood Pits landfill site also started to generate electricity in December 2005. This site, at Haydock in Merseyside, is owned by Cory Environmental. As part of the ongoing development of the site there are now three engines installed at the site which can generate just over 5,000kW of renewable energy by burning landfill gas. This is enough to supply the equivalent of 9,500 homes.

Planning approval has been granted for a wind energy project located approximately four kilometres to the east of Merthyr Tydfil on private land which houses a disused railway on Gelligaer Common in the County Borough of Caerphilly.

The company’s flagship development, however, is a straw-fired power station to be located in Lincolnshire. A planning application for the project was submitted in September 2007, accompanied by a full Environmental Statement that covers all aspects of the plant including transportation, landscape and visual impact, ecology and nature conservation, noise, air quality, archaeology and heritage.

The power station will generate 40MW of electricity using proven, efficient technology specifically designed for the clean combustion of straw. It will burn around 200,000 tonnes of straw a year in an efficient, clean combustion process and could export more than 300,000MWh of electricity to the local grid. It will also be able to burn limited amounts of clean wood, in case of any shortfalls in straw availability.

Farms within a 50-mile radius of the plant will be able to supply the straw required and the plan is to provide 12-year long, index-linked initial supply contracts to help initiate a new market for the material in the area. The ash produced by the combustion process will be recycled by local farms as fertiliser.

Considerable effort has been put into the design of the plant, which features a high quality architectural treatment using sympathetic materials enhanced by landscaping and extensive planting of indigenous species.

A champion of renewable energy

David Williams’s achievements in the field of renewable energy have been recognised time and time again - most recently in 2007 by the Renewable Energy Association. This is the most prestigious award in the industry and it is only the second time it has been given.

The British Renewable Energy Awards honour achievements in the renewable energy sector. The Champion Award is given in respect of a Lifetime’s Achievements in Renewable Energy.

Chief Executive of the Renewable Energy Association – Philip Wolfe said: “The Champion Award is the only one of the British Renewable Energy Awards that considers achievements over the long-term, so it is particularly fitting ?that David Williams should be this ?year’s winner.”

He added: “The judges were impressed that David has been a commercial innovator in the demanding field of biomass over such a long period. This is well-deserved recognition of one of the UK’s most distinguished careers in renewable energy.”

David Williams himself said: “Having been in the renewable energy sector for nearly two decades, it is an honour to receive some formal recognition for the work I have dedicated my career to.

“It has been a labour of love, working alongside many people, who like myself, are passionate about taking steps to ?mitigate the negative effects of global climate change.”