Caunton Engineering were delighted to have been entrusted with the order of the steelwork for a biomass-fired Energy Plant at Cramlington, Northumberland. This was the fourth order for Caunton for power plants constructed by Burmeister & Wain Scandinavian Contractor (BWSC). Caunton have already supplied the steelwork for over 900te of structural steelwork for this biomass plant. Low grade wood, the type unsuitable for sawmilling and timber production, is sourced from within a radius of 50 miles to feed the facility.

The steelwork framed the Boiler House, Turbine Hall, Fuel Storage, Conveyor, Wood Chip Buildings & Secondary Steelwork. Caunton’s Secondary Steelwork Division also added access Stairs, Ladders, Flooring and Hand-railing. The project was engineered by Niras.

The facility will supply low carbon heating and power into chemical company Aesica Pharmaceuticals’ Cramlington factory which manufactures active pharmaceutical ingredients for key drug products. The plant will also feed power into the national grid.

The plant will produce 27MWe of electricity, enough to power 51,500 homes – more than the population of Durham – and will save over 66,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent each year.