Forth Ports In Renewable Power Joint Venture

Forth Ports unveiled a renewable power joint venture with Scottish and Southern Energy and said it was seeing no impact on volumes from slowing economic growth.

The "Forth Energy" initiative will start with a £12 million wind energy project at Forth Ports-owned Port of Tilbury in Essex. Forth Ports chief executive Charles Hammond told The Scotsman one of the projects will probably include a series of biomass-burning power generation schemes in Leith, where Forth Ports has submitted planning applications for a series of nine new residential villages.

The renewable energy projects will help Forth Ports meet Edinburgh city council planning rules on new developments generating 20 per cent of their energy needs via renewable energy sources.

The new Forth Energy initiative is expected to create up to 200 jobs and will produce 150 to 200 megawatts of energy.Hammond said the initiative was a result of a study commissioned last year to look at how its assets, which includes seven UK commercial ports – Tilbury, Dundee on the Firth of Tay and Leith, Grangemouth, Rosyth, Methil and Burntisland on the Firth of Forth– could be exploited to produce renewable energy..."In the port business we are used to moving materials in bulk and storing them so there is a good fit with the core business," Hammond added. "For some time we have been examining how we can develop a renewable energy strategy."