5th Feb 2007 09:00
Scottish & Southern Energy PLC05 February 2007 GO-AHEAD FOR UK'S FIRST ASH SEPARATION PLANT Scottish and Southern Energy plc ("SSE") and RockTron Limited ("RockTron") haveconcluded an agreement which will lead to the construction, at SSE's Fiddler'sFerry Power Station in Cheshire, of the first plant in the UK to separate theash arising from electricity generation into constituent mineral parts for saleas cement substitute products and industrial minerals. Under the agreement, SSE will acquire one preference share in RockTron and willprovide it with a shareholder loan of up to £22m to facilitate the constructionof the plant. All of the necessary consents are in place, and construction workis expected to begin in the second quarter of 2007, with the plant becomingfully operational in the summer of 2008. The plant itself will remove and process all fresh ash produced and all ashcurrently stored in lagoons at the site over a period of up to 25 years. It willtake ash as its raw material and process it into its constituent parts such asfine ash fraction, coarse ash fraction, magnetic fraction, carbon rich fractionand cenospheres. It is expected that the plant will be able to process up to800,000 tonnes of ash per annum. These constituent parts then become marketable products and will be sold intotheir respective markets, with the largest volume being used as cementsubstitutes. Without processing, ash disposal would begin to attract landfillduty and associated environmental liabilities. The agreement between SSE and RockTron governs all of the commercial andoperational matters in respect of the new plant, including a lease to allowconstruction and operation of the plant at the power station and the supply on a'must-take' basis of ash from the power station to the plant. RockTron will beresponsible for the operation of the new plant and for the marketing and sale ofthe constituent mineral parts arising from the processing. The use of these substitutes reduces the need for a carbon-intensive limestonekilning process in cement production. By providing an alternative to the use ofthe limestone kilning process, it is estimated that the new plant will help toreduce carbon emissions by around 500,000 tonnes a year. Ian Marchant, Chief Executive of SSE, said: "Since we acquired Fiddler's Ferry in 2004, our aim has been to enhance itsoverall environmental performance and mitigate any liabilities arising from itsoperation, and this agreement with RockTron does both. By reducing theenvironmental impact arising from coal-fired electricity generation in this way,we will again demonstrate why coal has a long-term part to play in meeting theUK's long-term energy needs." Enquiries to: Scottish and Southern Energy plcAlan Young - Director of Corporate Communications + 44 (0)870 900 0410Sharron Miller-Mckenzie - Press Office Manager + 44 (0)870 900 0410 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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