BIOMASS PORTS


INDUSTRY NEWS


Signifi cant milestone for Port of Tyne


site and are being pre-assembled on the port estate, prior to instal- lation.


Derek Barr, Project Director, said: “In terms of design and delivery, this project is at the forefront of innovation in this fi eld. We have a very experienced team on site, drawn from within the business, and we have expanded it because of the size and complexity of the project, with so many disciplines involved.


“We have deployed the multi- disciplinary expertise within Spencer Group and supplemented it with specialist contractors to deliver the full package for the client. We design, engineer and construct the facilities and, as we have in the past, we will also prove their perfor- mance as an integrated system.” The project is now well on the way to completion, with the facili- ties due to be fully operational later this year.


It continues a strong collabora- tive relationship between Spencer and the Port of Tyne, which dates back to 2010 when the company worked with the port to design and build a rail-loading facility for wood pellets. This was then the fi rst of its kind in the world.


Andrew Moffat, Chief Executive T


hree major silos have been erected as the centrepiece of large-scale wood pellet facilities at the Port of


Tyne, a signifi cant milestone in what is an important project in the North of England.


The structures, each 36 m tall and 45 m in diameter, have been built by Hull-based engineering specialist Spencer Group as part of a major, multi-million-pound contract awarded by Lynemouth Power Ltd. In due course, the silos will be topped off with ‘penthouse’ structures housing the drive mecha- nism for the wood pellet conveyor system, taking the full height of the buildings to 45m.


The facilities, situated at Tyne Dock in South Shields, Tyne and Wear, will handle up to 1.8 million tonnes of wood pellets annually to support the full conversion of Lynemouth Power Station on the Northumberland coast from coal-


10 Spring 2017 10 burning to biomass.


The project will enable wood pel- lets to be conveyed mechanically to one of three newly-built silos, each capable of storing 25,000 tonnes of material. The pellets will then be discharged from the silos via two conveying streams to a rail-loading facility from where they will be transferred to Lynemouth Power Station by train.


Spencer, which is renowned for delivering innovation on complex projects, has utilised industry- leading particle controls in the material handling system, as well as sophisticated measures to monitor and manage the condition of the wood pellets.


To complete the project, the company will utilise its specialist skills in the rail sector to carry out modifi cations to the existing rail infrastructure, thus providing dedi- cated rail lines to serve Lynemouth Power Station and connect the new


facilities to the 11,000 volts mains supply.


Gary Thornton, Spencer’s Man- aging Director, explained: “With the emergence of the Northern Powerhouse and the increasing importance of major Northern infrastructure projects, we were extremely proud to be awarded this contract.


“The project showcases Spencer Group’s ability to deliver signifi cant projects of scale and positions us as a market leader in handling biomass.


“The completion of the three silos is a major milestone as we now enter the fi nal phases of the project.” The fi rst materials handling gantries have also been installed on site as part of the conveyor system taking the wood pellets from the quayside to the silos and, fi nally, the rail-loading facility. The gantry structures have been fabricated off-


Offi cer of Port of Tyne, agreed: “We have been innovating pro- cesses, procedures and systems for the handling, storage and transpor- tation of wood pellets since 2009, when we built the fi rst facility, and even now we continue to research and develop improvements for ef- fective handling of this material. “As well as working with Spencer Group on site, we have been employing new technology in the design of specialist hoppers required for the new handling and conveying systems. These are cur- rently under construction in Spain and are due on site in April. “The whole project at Port of Tyne is a very signifi cant addi- tion to the region’s infrastructure. We are delighted to have invited Lynemouth Power Ltd to the Port of Tyne and look forward to work- ing with them for many years to come.”


More information from www.portoftyne.co.uk


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