News

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has today announced another Round of the Bio-Energy Infrastructure Scheme.

This scheme provides grants to help the development of the supply chain required to harvest, process, store and supply biomass to heat, combined heat and power, and electricity end-users.  To qualify, all projects must be based in England and must supply the biomass to end-users in Great Britain.

Small or medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are eligible for grants up to a maximum of £200,000 per business for the following types of biomass:

• Short rotation coppice (willow, poplar, alder, ash, hazel, lime, silver birch, sweet chestnut and sycamore).
• Miscanthus.
• Switch grass, reed canary grass, prairie cord grass, rye grass.
• Straw.
• Woodfuel from forestry, arboricultural tree management and primary processing.
• Other energy crops at DECC’s discretion.

Wood arising from secondary processing and any wood that has been chemically treated or painted; oilseed rape to be used to produce heat and electricity; biomass for processing into transport fuels and animal waste products such as poultry litter, sewage etc are all
excluded from the scheme.

Applications will be assessed on a rolling basis up to the deadline of 26 February 2010.

For further information visit the DECC website:

http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/news/pn136/pn136.aspx