Simec Atlantis Energy (SAE) has abandoned plans to convert a coal-fired power station at Uskmouth to burn pelletised waste. Instead, the company plans to install a 230MW battery on the site.
The company announced plans to convert the existing power plant to burn biogenic waste and non-recyclable plastic back in August 2018. In 2020 it said it expected to reach financial close in late 2021, building one 110MW unit immediately and planning a second at a later date. It was at that stage looking for data centres as long-term customers for the power generated.
However, a planning application was ‘called in’ by the Welsh Government in October 2021 (previously it had been under consideration by Natural Resources Wales), at which time SAE complained that the direction “has been left to the very end of the NRW process and follows over a year of detailed information sharing between SAE and NRW”. It called the decision to delay the project “a blow to South Wales”.
Uskmouth site has a 230MW grid connection previously used by the coal-fired power station, along with significant land and infrastructure that make it a prime location a battery storage system, said SAE, announcing the change of plan. The company has now submitted a Modification Application to National Grid, for the change of plans, and a screening report to Newport City Council in relation to the battery construction.
As SAE is not pursuing the Uskmouth Conversion Project and withdrawn the relevant application it has sold associated items of plant, and it said, “This contract brings in immediate funding to SAE’s business, helping to secure SAE’s broader objectives and delivering value for shareholders”. It has signed a £1.2 million contract with Wye Valley Demolition to remove the surplus plant and equipment.