GIB leads investment in new £47.8m renewable energy plant

The UK Green Investment Bank (GIB) is part of a consortium that will construct a £47.8 million renewable energy plant in Birmingham.

GIB and Foresight Group have announced the investment of the 10MWe recovered wood gasification facility, which will be built in Tyseley.

The consortium compromises of GIB, Balfour Beatty, Eternity Capital management, Foresight’s UK Waste Resources and Energy Investments (UKWREI) fund – in which GIB a cornerstone investor – and GCP Infrastructure fund with the developer Carbonarius.

The project is expected to come online by early 2016 and will convert recovered wood into electricity using gasification technology, the first of its kind in the UK.

Shaun Kingbury, chief executive of GIB, said: “As the UK works towards its targets to generate more power from green sources, it’s important that we bring on new technologies.

“I’m pleased the GIB has been able to support the first gasification plant of its kind in the UK and hope it offers a positive demonstration effect that others will follow.

“The project also highlights the wider economic benefits of investing in new green technologies with a hundred new jobs to construct the plant, 19 good quality new jobs in its ongoing operation and a long term contract for a local small business.”

Business Secretary Vince Cable said: “It is encouraging to see this innovative new technology coming to the UK for the first time.

“This investment will create green jobs and help the environment by reducing carbon emissions and converting wood diverted from landfill into cleaner energy for thousands of homes and businesses.

“It is also good news for the local area helping to build a stronger economy by creating over 100 private sector jobs in Birmingham.”