The power giant announced today it has completed the takeover of the Berkshire business, located in the Slough Trading Estate, after buying shares previously owned by property investment company SEGRO (Slough Estates Group).
Slough Heat and Power operates a combined heat and power plant which uses wood chip, biomass and waste paper to produce around 80 Megawatts of electricity each year as well as heat.
Renewable energy
The plant has the capacity to produce 100 Megawatts of electricity each year and Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) aims to use its latest acquisition to boost the amount of renewable energy it generates.
Chief executive Ian Marchant said: “While all of the assets at Slough are important, I am particularly pleased that SSE now owns and operates the UK’s largest dedicated biomass energy facility.
“As well as reinforcing our position as the UK’s leading generator of electricity from renewable sources, this will give us a platform from which to build up our interests in biomass and waste-to-energy, areas which we believe will become increasingly important over the next decade.”
Meeting
Specific details of the plant’s future are being kept under wraps at the moment but representatives from SSE and Slough Heat and Power are scheduled to meet next Monday when further information is likely to be revealed.
SSE has two other plants which co-fire biomass with coal to produce electricity – Fiddler’s Ferry and Ferrybridge in Cheshire.
The Slough plant burns biomass without coal. It also has its own fibre fuel processing plant, which turns paper that cannot be recycled into fuel briquettes for the combined heat and power facility.
Part of the plant is contracted under the Non Fossil Fuel Obligation and part of it produces over 200 Gigawatthours of energy which qualifies for Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs).
Subscribe for free