Scottish & Southern Energy Proposals for Fiddler's Ferry P.S.

Scottish and Southern Energy plc ("SSE") and RockTron Limited ("RockTron") have agreed to co-operate in the completion of a venture which is expected to lead to the construction, at SSE's Fiddler's Ferry power station in Cheshire, of the first plant in the UK to separate the ash arising from electricity generation into constituent mineral parts for sale as cement substitute products and industrial minerals.

The announcement of this venture took place during a visit to Fiddler's Ferry today by the Rt Hon David Miliband MP, Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

The ash which arises from the combustion of coal is currently stored in lagoons at the Fiddler's Ferry site and in other landfill sites around the UK. The process developed by RockTron results in the ash being separated into its mineral parts, mainly cement substitutes alpha(TM) and delta(TM), and industrial fillers for plastic and paint.

In the UK over two million tonnes of cement substitute products are sold each year. This is likely to grow significantly as a result of environmental pressures. The use of these substitutes eliminates the need for a carbon-intensive limestone kilning process in cement production.

Fiddler's Ferry currently produces around 300,000 tonnes of ash each year and there is a substantial stockpile of usable ash at the site.

The plant will process up to 800,000 tonnes of ash a year which would supply the product to the North West of England, a part of the country which is currently not supplied with cement substitute products. By providing an alternative to the use of the limestone kilning process, it is estimated that this would help to reduce carbon emissions by around 500,000 tonnes a year.

Developing the plant would require investment of around £17m. SSE and RockTron expect to make a final decision on whether to proceed with this development later this year. Construction work would begin soon thereafter.

During his visit Mr Milliband said: "I look forward to hearing about the innovative work being done here at Fiddler's Ferry. Energy companies have an important role to play in driving down the UK's emissions as we move to a low carbon economy."

Ian Marchant, Chief Executive of SSE, said: "I have no doubt that we have in this development a potential solution to the long-standing issue of ash production from electricity generation at coal-fired power stations. This is another example of the work we are doing to minimise the environmental impacts arising from these stations. That bodes well for the long-term contribution that we believe coal can make to securing the UK's supplies of energy."

Lord Wade, Chairman of RockTron said: "SSE's commitments to a cleaner environment makes them an ideal partner for RockTron, which sees itself as an environmental remediation company. The Fiddler's Ferry plant will be the first of its kind in the world and offers the three major benefits of producing high added value industrial minerals, eliminates the need for storing ash in lagoons and landfill sites, and helps to reduce carbon emissions by about 500,000 tonnes per annum."

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Posted 19/06/06

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