Pelco, the British straw pelleting company has submitted a planning application to East Cambridgeshire District Council for the first of its five UK pelleting plants.
Over the course of a year the pelleting plant at Ely will process around 150,000 tonnes of wheat and oil seed rape straw gathered from farms within a 50-mile radius. This will provide farmers an opportunity to benefit from the value of their straw from next year‟s harvest, 2016. Baled straw would be delivered by road from „hub‟ farms with pellets transported onwards by rail to renewable energy plants such as the proposed Combined Heat and Power plant at Generation Park Norwich.
Simon Barnard, Chief Operating Officer commented, “We are delighted to submit our planning application for our first pelleting plant having brought together a great team to build and operate it. It‟s very exciting to think that in a little over a year we will be producing a low carbon biomass fuel sourced from British farms and providing the energy to heat and power British homes and business.”
Pelco‟s other four proposed plants, earmarked for North Yorkshire, Birmingham, Surrey and Wiltshire, will follow. Agricultural consultant Will Mitcham at Wilson Wraight continues to manage Pelco‟s straw procurement, supported by new team member Ben Taylor who operates in the field visiting farms across the UK. Will Mitcham can be contacted for straw contracts on 01284 700727
