Built on time and on budget, Steven's Croft is the biggest biomass plant in Scotland and will generate enough electricity to power the equivalent of 70,000 homes every year.

The £90m scheme, which was recently opened by First Minister for Scotland Alex Salmond, will now make an important contribution to the UK effort to tackle climate change by displacing up to 140,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases every year.

As one of the UK's leading power and gas companies, we understand we need to develop a diverse mix of energy sources, including biomass plants like Steven’s Croft, if we're going to succeed in ensuring a secure supply of electricity to keep the lights on while reducing carbon emissions.

Steven's Croft will also see a further significant investment in local and regional economy.   It's creating 40 direct jobs and will help to maintain up to 300 indirect jobs in the local forestry industry.   Local farming will also benefit from the long term, low risk energy crop initiative being developed by E.ON.

In December 2007, Steven's Croft was named Scotland's best renewable energy project at Scottish Renewables' Green Energy Awards.

"Steven's Croft is a pioneering project that offers huge benefits to the local community as well as to the battle against climate change.  

"Not only will it help the UK to meet its tough renewable energy targets, it will benefit the local economy by using by-products from the local timber industry, as well as offering local farmers a new market in renewable fuel crops."  

Frank Mastiaux, CEO of E.ON Climate & Renewables

How does it work?  

Burning biomass is a clean way of generating electricity and is often called ‘carbon neutral’.   This means that the carbon released into the atmosphere when the material is burned is equivalent to the amount absorbed by the plant its growth cycle.

The plant will require over 480,000 tonnes of fuel every year. The fuel is a blend of:

•   60% sawmill co-products and small round wood
•   20% short rotation coppice (willow)
•   20% recycled fibre (from wood product manufacture)

To begin, the power station will use a mixture of biomass fuels derived from forestry co-products such as sawdust from local saw mills.

Within four years of operation, it’s expected that around 90,000 tonnes a year will come from willow harvested by local farmers

To ensure smooth running of the supply and generation sides of the station, it is made up of two adjacent sites, with one dedicated to fuel processing and the other being the actual generation plant.

Not only will the site will make a significant contribution to supporting local forestry and saw milling operations, it will present a unique opportunity to the farming community, making the site a positive contributor to the local economy.