News
Sleaford Renewable Energy Plant was one of the sponsors of the North Kesteven District Council's Community Champions Awards, alongside other local businesses and organisations. The Awards were held on October 21st.
A record number of awards were made in recognition of the extraordinary levels of community spirit shown throughout North Kesteven.
Sleaford Renewable Energy Plant, which itself won a Community Champions Award in 2015, sponsored the
Contribution to a Better Environment Award. It went to Friends of Mareham Pastures, Sleaford – a small volunteer group which over 13 years has transformed an old tip into a much-valued nature reserve.
Matthew Igoe, General Manager of the Plant and Murray Paterson, UK Biomass Manager at Glennmont Partners (the owners of the Sleaford Renewable Energy Plant) presented the Award.
The Awards event was held at The Venue, Navenby, and was attended by more than 150 guests.
As well as celebrating community spirit, the event raised hundreds of pounds for NKDC Chairman Cllr John Money’s charity St Barnabas Hospice and heard from District Paralympian Kieran Tscherniawsky about his experiences at Rio 2016.
A group of 35 residents from the nearby village of Kirkby La Thorpe have visited the Sleaford Renewable Energy Plant. It was an opportunity for them to see the plant in operation, learn more about the processes involved from straw delivery to renewable power generation and to meet members of the team working at the plant.
The visit was organised in collaboration with Kirkby La Thorpe Parish Council. Phil White, Chairman of the Parish Council said: "We are delighted to have been able to help organise the residents' visit to the Sleaford plant. Without exception, residents have been quite thrilled to see the workings of the power station at first hand."
Year 5 children (9-10 year olds) from Caythorpe Primary School visited the Sleaford Renewable Plant last week. It was an opportunity for the children to learn how the power plant works, learn how biomass renewable energy is becoming a much larger part of the country’s energy supply mix and learn how biomass power generation is helping reduce the country’s reliance on fossil fuels. The visit also included a talk about how the Sleaford plant supplies free heat to local civic and sports buildings, including the nearby Sleaford Football Club.
Rachael Glendinning, the Head Teacher of Caythorpe Primary School said: “It feels so right to engage our children in the future challenges we face as a 'world' around renewable energies and climate change. And to have an experience around an active renewable site, can only support and drive and transform future thoughts and thinking.”
The visit was hosted by Eco2’s Darren Smith and Helen Bosworth. Eco2 manages the Sleaford plant on behalf of owners, Glennmont Partners.
The Sleaford plant hosts visits from local organisations on a monthly basis. Group numbers are restricted (12 per visit) and each group must adhere to the plant's health & safety procedures. For further information, please email [email protected]
Over the next two weeks, beginning May 16th, up to 3000 tonnes of straw that has been stored at Fulbeck Airfield (for use at the Sleaford Renewable Energy Plant) and which is degrading to the point at which it can no longer be used, will be removed by lorry. Up to 15 loads per day will occur between 07:00 – 19:00 weekdays, and 08:00 – 14:00 Saturdays. There will be no lorry movements on Sundays or on the May 30th bank holiday. The Fulbeck and Stragglethorpe Parish Councils have been informed.
Please note that the future use of Fulbeck Airfield is subject to an ongoing planning application which is due to be determined at the end of this month. No straw will be imported onto the airfield until that position is clear. Nevertheless, whatever decision is reached at the end of May, the material that is on site must be removed at some point.
Given that the Easter weekend is four days long, we have obtained permission from North Kesteven District Council to allow us to deliver straw to the plant (and remove ash) from 7.00am to 7.00pm on Easter Saturday (March 26th). This will allow us more time to restock our straw barns and therefore ensure that we generate electricity into the National Grid without any hindrance.
Our revised delivery hours for Easter Saturday will be as per our standard weekday hours (7.00am to 7.00pm), rather than the usual 8.00am to 2.00pm for Saturday operations. There will be no deliveries of straw on Good Friday, Easter Sunday or Bank Holiday Monday.
Students from the Renewable Energy Society at Nottingham University visited the plant on March 15th. The group were mainly first year and post graduate students studying chemical with environmental engineering or mechanical engineering as well as some students from environmental science backgrounds. The visit to the Sleaford Renewable Energy Plant was part of the Society’s industry outreach programme, and it was an opportunity for the plant to explain its operation and its contribution to the country’s energy mix.
The Sleaford Standard recently featured a piece on the grant funding that has been supplied by the Sleaford Renewable Energy Plant and encouraging more community groups in the Sleaford and Kirkby la Thorpe area to apply for grant funding.
Included in the article is a video of members from Sleaford Gymnastics Club, which was allocated £700 towards the purchase of asymmetric bars from grant money by the Sleaford Community Liaison Panel.
Watch a video of the Sleaford young gymnasts in action and the full article in the link below:
Members of the Bourne U3A Science & Technology Group have visited the Sleaford Renewable Energy Plant to gain a better understanding of how the plant generates renewable electricity by burning straw that is supplied by farmers in and around Lincolnshire.
The U3A group followed the process from the straw first arriving at the plant, through to when the straw is burned in a boiler to produce high temperature, high pressure steam, and which is then used to drive a steam turbine generator. The 40MW power station, which has been operating since 2014, supplies electricity for the equivalent of 65,000 homes and supplies heat to five public buildings in Sleaford.
U3A, which stands for the University of the Third Age, is a self-help organisation for people no longer in full-time employment providing educational, creative and leisure opportunities in a friendly environment. The Bourne Science & Technology Group meets once a month to listen to invited speakers who talk on many diverse subjects ranging from food production, engine production, church organs through to electricity grid developments and the Group also visits different places of interest.
Roger Callow of Bourne U3A said: “The visit was a great opportunity for us to see first-hand the production of renewable energy from straw, as we live surrounded by many thousands of acres of arable crops, a local resource. In some respects the visit was the icing on the cake for those members of our group who attended one of our meetings last year where we were given a talk on the manufacture and development of steam turbines. Making all aspects of renewable energy production available for us to view under one roof was an opportunity not to miss and I would like to thank the team at Sleaford Renewable Energy Plant for making our visit a most enjoyable and informative one.”
The plant will take deliveries of straw in the days running up to Christmas, including Christmas Eve, which is a normal working day. However, given how the Christmas holiday period falls this year, we have obtained special permission from North Kesteven District Council to allow us to deliver straw to the plant (and remove ash) on Monday, December 28th which this year is a public holiday.
Sleaford REP Xmas delivery notice 9 Nov
Sleaford Renewable Energy Plant exhibited at the Made in Sleaford event on October 9th and 10th.
Made in Sleaford was a two-day festival celebrating the importance of manufacturing, design and engineering in the town, created by North Kesteven District Council to promote the quality and value of the things Made in the Sleaford to the people who live, work and study in Sleaford. A large part of the event was set aside for local schoolchildren to meet those local businesses present; more than 3500 people visited the event over the two days.
Sleaford REP was represented at the the event by Darren Smith and David Spilsbury of Eco2, the company that manages the operation of the plant and which originally developed it.