Simec Atlantis Energy has appointed Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Europe to carry out the design and development of the combustion system for its open to convert Uskmouth power station to burn biomass. The contract includes  large-scale testing of the waste-derived pellets which will fuel the plan in futuret.

MHPS Europe is the European arm of a joint venture company of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Hitachi.

The contract will cover:

• Completion of industrial scale milling tests on the fuel pellets;
• Completion of industrial scale combustion tests on the fuel; and
• Completion of Uskmouth furnace burner system design.

These final tests have to be completed before Simec can negotiate the major engineering, procurement and construction contract to supply the full combustion system and secure project finance. Completion is expected in Q2 2020.

MHPS Europe anticipates that the fuel can be successfully milled and combusted using their existing technology and therefore the testing will take place using equipment already deployed across the globe in existing power projects. It is expected that industrial milling testing will occur in Germany at an existing MHPS Europe milling test facility and then final industrial scale combustion testing will occur at an existing MHPS combustion test facility in Nagasaki, Japan.

The fuel supplier for the project, Simec Subcoal Fuels, will have a dedicated industrial-scale pilot production line for supply of the test fuel at its existing pelleting facility in the Netherlands. The project will seek to achieve financial close in Q3 2020 with generation beginning in 2021.