A straw burning power plant is being planned for the North Lincolnshire town of Brigg. In fact, the Eco2 proposal, if approved, the biomass power plant will be capable of generating 40MW of renewable energy electricity.

The planned site of the power plant will be in a former sugar beet factory and will receive lorry loads of straw for 12 hours a day on weekdays and hald a day on Saturdays to meet the fuel needs. In order to keep the carbon footprint of the project low, the straw will be sourced locally which will benefit the local farmers who will gain a consistent and reliable income. Additionally, the short haulage routes will keep exhaust emissions low.

It has been estimated that the biomass power plant will cost around £80m to build and will then incur annual running costs of around £6m to buy the straw. From this, the maximum capacity of 40MW will be capable of providing around 65,000 with power each year.

By adding the electricity produced from the Brigg Biomass Power Plant into the national grid an estimated quarter of a million tonnes of carbon dioxide is avoided each year. The surplus straw in the North Lincolnshire area will be used and the ash produced by the burning process will be able to be used as a fertilizer. Finally, the renewable energy project will generate 30 new jobs for the area.