UK, Denmark boost NWE biomass burn in Dec

A sharp year-on-year rise in wood pellet-fired generation in the UK and Denmark supported biomass burn in northwest Europe in December.

UK generation rose by 126MW to 2.6GW, data from National Grid's BMRS website show. This is equivalent to just above 1mn t of pellets, up by around 49,000t from December 2020, assuming 40pc efficiency, Argus calculates.

The increase was driven by stronger generation from Drax, whose output rose by 121MW to 2.2GW — an 85pc utilisation rate. This was despite unplanned outages at 645MW base-load unit 1, where output fell by 171MW — generation rose significantly at the utility's other three units.

Output at the UK's biomass-fired 396MW Lynemouth and 55MW Markinch plants was steady on the year, at 395MW and 55MW, respectively, in December.

Danish biomass burn rose to 730MW in December from 618MW a year earlier, according to Entso-E data for plants of at least 100MW. This was despite the 254MW Avedore plant running at just 156MW on 1-4 December and being offline on 5-13 December for maintenance.

French biomass burn rose slightly, while generation in Belgium and Germany fell.

Record generation in 2021

Record power prices provided a strong incentive for utilities across Europe to ramp up in 2021, with biomass-fired units no exception. European biomass-fired generation probably hit a record high in 2021, barring any major outages at Dutch co-fired plants. Available generation data suggest power plants in key northwest European importing countries burnt around 1.5mn t of additional wood pellets in 2021, assuming an average 40pc efficiency rate (see table). These figures exclude the Netherlands, for which data has not been published yet.

Danish biomass-fired output rose fastest in Europe last year — by 210MW to 557MW on an average hourly basis, Entso-E data show (see table). This would be equivalent to 970,000t of additional pellets burnt, assuming 40pc efficiency.

The UK, which is Europe's largest importer of pellets, recorded the next largest increase — by 127MW to 2.2GW — equivalent to just over 560,000t of additional pellets, assuming 40pc efficiency.

French burn rose slightly, while Belgian output fell, mostly as a result of the closure of the 80MW Les Awirs plant in August 2020. German biomass burn for power fell, although the country is mostly self-sufficient and trades smaller volumes than other European countries.

Dutch biomass-fired generation could turn out significantly higher for 2021, although data — available on a quarterly basis — for October-December is yet to be published. German utility RWE doubled its co-firing allowance by 225MW at the Netherlands' 1.5GW Eemshaven plant, effective from November. But only a part of this additional capacity might have become operational in the fourth quarter because of physical limitations at the site. Eemshaven was completely offline in May-November 2020 because of technical problems. Pellet-fired generation at Eemshaven and RWE's other Dutch plant, the 630MW Amer 9, increased in January-September.

Overall biomass-fired generation also rose in the rest of Europe in 2021 — equivalent to 456,000t of additional pellets, assuming 40pc efficiency — with the biggest gains in Finland, Spain and Italy.

Current forward power prices offer an incentive for generation to remain strong throughout 2022.

By Erisa Senerdem

Pellet-fired burn at key Dutch plants in Jan-Sep MW

December biomass burn up in NWE GW