Dear Councillors
Re: Coedbach Action Team visit to Lockerbie Power Station January 2009
In January a number of the Coedbach Action Team Members undertook site visits to Lockerbie and Ely to look at potentially comparable power stations to the proposed plant at Coedbach. Our one page visit report was circulated to Planning committee Members by Planning and discussed at the 19 February Planning Committee which approved Lockerbie as a site to visit.
Before visiting we took a view that we wanted to approach our visits as objectively as possible so we created a list of areas of interest and questions to ask the people that we met and talked to.
For information and interest we have attached a list of the prompt questions that we used to collect information, we hope that you find this useful
Informal Site Visit Report by Coedbach Action Team - 19 January 2008
Lockerbie E.ON 44mw Biomass Power Plant
| Power Output | · 45mw fed underground to national grid 26 km away |
| Site location | · A rural location in one of the least populated parts of the · Countryside and rural – nearest house / farm +1km from site · M74 motorway is one boundary · West coast rail-line is second boundary |
| On-site works | · Boiler / generator / cooling fans / chimney / woodchip stove / wood processing / log stores (open) · Car park / lorry park / visitors centre |
| Size | · Est. 70 acre site – 1 mile long |
| Chimney | · 82 m high – context is local land is flat / rolling hills with low population |
| Boiler building | · 50m high (20 stories) |
| Visual impact | · Extreme – very intrusive visually · Note: +6m bank and trees built to screen plant from M74 |
| Noise impact | · 3 residents at +1km all complained of cooling fan noise based on wind direction |
| Pollution impact | · All residents complained of smell on quiet days and deposition |
| Electricity Pylons | · All underground (26km to national grid) |
| Jobs | · Only 3 operators needed to run the plan, ie 3 x 6 shifts + 9-10 admin staff = 28 max employed to run the plant |
| Residents | · No residents within 1 km of site. At 1km they were complaining about noise and pollution based on wind direction · Residents quoted ”at night we can see the lights from the site – all the time” “ There is a constant noise from the cooling fans – a whump whump like a Chinook helicopter” “When it was being built we were busy with B&B contractors from |
| Waste heat | · Not used for either residents or processing |
| Materials used | · 480,000 tonnes pa from +60 mile radius. · - 20% SRC - 20% construction wood waste which is considered by EA to be contaminated material |
| Boiler type | · Fluidised bed (can and does burn multi-fuels) |
| Transport | · 100% by road via large vehicle fleet |
| Wood processing | · Very large wood stores open to view (est. 6-10 acres) · 2-3 large and noisy wood chipping units) |
| The Developer | · E.ON – a well recognised Power Company who were professional throughout development. Full visitor centre on site |
| Other comments | · This site is representative of Coedbach - large size - timber / wood processing / wood storage |
| Who we met | · Plant operator (1 of only 3 on site) · Local residents · Local business people (hotel and pub) |
| Conclusion: | · Very rural location · Huge visual impact intrusive · Enormous size · No local residents ad |
Coedbach Action Team Power Station Visit Checklist
| Subject | Interest/Concern | Prompt Question |
| Power Output | Is the site comparable to Coedbach? | What is the power output and how efficient is the power station? |
| Site location | What is the setting for the power station, residential / rural / industrial / etc | Where is the site located and what are its surroundings? |
| On-site works | What actually does a comparable power station comprise of | What structures and activities are on site? |
| Size | We are concerned that power stations are very large and intrusive structures | What is the size of the power station and how does the compare to Coedbach proposal? |
| Chimney | We are concerned that 60m as proposed at Coedbach is low and not accurate eg | What is the height of the chimney? How was the height determined? |
| Boiler building | From our experience the main boiler house and associated structures are always large | How big is the main boiler and other buildings? |
| Visual impact | We are concerned about the visual impact of a large structure at Coedbach and in the Valley. | What is the visual impact of the power station and chimney / stoke plume? |
| Noise impact | The EIA has very little information on noise. This is a concern | How noisy is the power station when operating + wood processing and traffic? |
| Pollution impact | We are concerned about the impact on our health, especially in a valley location | What is the impact of emissions and pollution? |
| Electricity Pylons | The Coedbach plant will require a connection to the National Grid. Current proposal is over-ground pylons | How is the power station connected to the National Grid? |
| Jobs | We do not believe that the developer’s claims of 90 direct jobs are correct. | How many people are employed at the site a) to operate b) office staff? What has this brought to the local economy? |
| Residents | Local residents are highly concerned about the impact on them, eg some live within 30m of the Coedbach site | How close are the nearest residents and what has been the impact on them? What do you think of the power station? |
| Waste heat | Re-use of waste heat is promised at Coedbach | What happens to the waste heat generated? |
| Materials used | We are concerned about the proposed 6,000 mile wood supply chain and it just doesn’t seem to make sense | What materials are used to fuel the Power Station? Where do you get it from? |
| Boiler type | We understand two types of boilers can be used, one for wood, one for multi-fuel, including waste | What type of boiler do you have? How does it work? What can you burn? |
| Subject | Interest/Concern | Prompt Question |
| Transport | At Coedbach we are concerned about the proposed 75% rail; 25% road transport, we believe that 100% by road is most likely | How do you transport materials to site? From where? |
| Wood Processing | At Coedbach a very large area is proposed for wood storage and processing | How / where do you store and process wood? How much do you use every day? |
| The Developer | We understand that the developer at Coedbach has no prior experience of building or operating power stations | Who is the developer and operator? How professional / experienced are they? |
| Carbon impact | We are struggling to see how Coedbach can be classified as “green” or “renewable”. | What is the carbon footprint and carbon balance of the power station? What precisely does renewable mean relative to a 25 year operating and growing cycle of the power station and wood? |
| Visit information gathering | Who do we need to be talking to to answer and get the best information possible | - Local residents - Power Plant Operators and management - Local business people - Local council - Technical experts |