Kent Renewable Energy is located in Sandwich, Kent and produces renewable heat and power which is delivered to nearby business and science park, Discovery Park, and to local power consumers connected to UKPN’s grid. Fuel is locally sourced wood supplied by EuroForest. The plant commenced commercial operations on 13th September 2018 only 25 months after Financial Close and two months ahead of schedule, to specification and within budget. The EPC contractor BWSC has successfully led the construction and taken the plant into commercial operations with a very impressive safety culture with zero Lost Time Incidents. BWSC will continue as the O&M contractor.
“After a 25-month successful construction period this is the moment we have all been looking forward to. We are delighted to see renewable power and heat being generated and delivered to local customers based on locally sourced wood. We have completed yet another successful biomass project ahead of time and within budget in strong cooperation with local authorities and our business partners incl. BWSC, EuroForest and Discovery Park, and we look forward to the continued cooperation for the next 20 years or more of plant operations,” says Christina Grumstrup Sørensen, Senior Partner with CIP. Kent Renewable Energy is majority-owned by Copenhagen Infrastructure II (CI II), a fund managed by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners. CI II owns the plant together with BWSC and Estover Energy, who has developed the project. CI II has invested around GBP 150m equity in Kent Renewable Energy.
The plant capacity of 27MW will be sufficient to serve roughly 50,000 homes and offset 100,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions a year. The project has created the equivalent of more than 250 direct full-time jobs during the construction phase and approx. 30 jobs will permanently be established on site to operate the plant for its lifetime of 20 years. Kent Renewable Energy will operate under the Renewables Obligation Certificate (ROC) regime and Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) for power and heat respectably.