19 July 2007 14:33
Next stages of testing to be undertaken at E.ON's Steven's Croft biomass power station

E.ON UK, one of the country's leading green generators, is to carry out more tests at its Steven's Croft biomass power station over the next few weeks as part of its ongoing commissioning process.

The company has written to the plant's neighbours to let them know that they will be venting steam from the station, starting on July 20.

Andy Carling, Project Manager for E.ON UK, said: "We'll be carrying out two lots of testing that could take a number of weeks to complete.

"We don't expect there to be any issues but we thought it best to warn people living near the station that they might hear some noise when we carry out our main testing.

"I also thought it was important to let our neighbours know that the noises associated with the main testing are not representative of normal operations and won't be repeated once the plant's been commissioned.

"It's very important to us to be a good neighbour and we hope that the people living near the plant will recognise that."

The main tests are scheduled to take place between 7am and 7.30am and again between 7pm and 7.30pm.

The £90m 44MW plant is the UK's largest dedicated biomass, or carbon neutral, power station and, once commissioned, it will produce enough power for 70,000 homes and displace the emission of 140,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide every year.

Ends

Notes to editors:

• E.ON is the UK's largest integrated power and gas company - generating, distributing and retailing electricity - and is part of the E.ON group, the world's largest private-sector energy services company. We employ around 15,000 people in the UK;
• Our retail business, branded Powergen, is a leading energy supplier in the UK, with around 8.5 million electricity and gas customer accounts, both domestic and SME.

For more information contact:

Jonathan Smith on 024 7618 3676