First occupier becomes operational at Protos

Bioenergy Infrastructure Group has started to generate low-carbon energy at Peel Environmental’s £700m flagship energy park at Ince.

The 21.5MW biomass facility is the first active site at Protos, the energy innovation district being developed by Peel with a long-term target of more than 3,000 jobs once fully operational. Protos is a 134-acre park, close to Ellesmere Port.

This represents BIG’s second largest asset by production capacity within its wider portfolio of bioenergy facilities across the UK. The Ince facility uses waste wood to generate low carbon energy, producing enough energy to power 40,000 homes for 20 years.

Peel Environmental said that the phase one infrastructure at Protos has now been completed, with the development site now open for business.

Neil Bennett, commercial director at Bioenergy Infrastructure Group, said: “As one of BIG’s first investments in the bioenergy sector, this major achievement at Ince Bio Power, and within the Protos hub, is an important step in delivering our wider strategy of generating more than 200MW of low carbon power from waste – sustainably supporting the UK’s increasingly electricity-intensive economy, regional economic development and local job creation.”

Jane Gaston, development director at Protos, added: “Our first occupier generating low-carbon energy from site is a major milestone for Protos. It symbolises investor confidence in the energy destination we’re creating in the North West and follows our neighbouring wind farm coming on stream last year.

“We continue to invest in utilities infrastructure that will significantly increase our ability to import and export power from Protos, and are looking forward to securing further energy-related tenants on the surrounding consented plots.”