CONSTRUCTION BEGINS ON SEMBCORP GROUNDBREAKING POWER STATION PROJECT

Sembcorp Utilities UK has begun the construction of a green power station on Teesside.

The pioneering £60 million Wilton 10 project at the Wilton International site will generate 30 MW of electricity, enough to power 30,000 homes, using a renewable product - wood - as its fuel source.

The largest ‘biomass’ project of its kind in the UK, Wilton 10 is expected to be operational by the middle of 2007.

Sembcorp Utilities UK and Foster Wheeler, the engineering, procurement and construction contractor, marked the occasion with a special ‘groundbreaking’ ceremony at the site.

Sembcorp’s Managing Director, Paul Gavens, said: “This is a tremendous and momentous occasion for Sembcorp, the Wilton International site and the whole of the Tees Valley area.

“We will be generating much needed energy from a non-fossil fuel product, helping the UK to reduce overall greenhouse emissions in the process.

“Construction of the new plant will be a massive task and our first priority is to complete the job safely with no injuries or accidents to our employees or contractors.”

Foster Wheeler will design, build and commission the complete boiler island including the fuel handling system, the biomass fuelled boiler and the flue gas treatment system.

“We are pleased to be involved in this important biomass-to-energy project and to be working in partnership with Sembcorp,” said Steve Davies, chairman and chief executive officer, Foster Wheeler Energy Limited.

“This project combines the world-class project execution and local knowledge of our Global Engineering and Construction (E&C) Group's Teesside operation, part of our UK E&C group, with Foster Wheeler Global Power Group’s proven bubbling fluidized-bed biomass boiler expertise. I believe we will deliver a state-of-the-art facility which meets our client’s objectives.”

Around 15 permanent new Sembcorp jobs will be created at the plant and the construction work will involve around 400 people at peak.

The picture shows (foreground, left to right) Tony Lewis, Sembcorp’s Wilton 10 Project Director with Tuomo Hulkkonen, Vice President, European Projects, Foster Wheeler Global Power Group, and (rear, left to right) Martin Small, Sembcorp Construction Manager, with Steve Scott, Manager, UK Project Operations, Foster Wheeler Energy Limited.

The wood for the station will come from four separate sources.

Around 40 per cent of the 300,000 tonne a year total will be recycled wood that will be received, stored and chipped on a nearby, separately owned site at Wilton.

A further 20 per cent will come to the site already chipped as offcuts from sawmills.

Sembcorp is working with the Forestry Commission to bring a further 20 per cent from north east forests in the form of small roundwood logs – items sometimes left on forestry floor after normal tree felling operations.

Finally, 20 per cent of the wood will comprise specially grown energy crops – in the form of a type of willow known as short rotation coppice – grown by farmers and other landowners within a 50-mile radius of the site.

The new plant will require the growth of around 7,500 acres of coppice in the region – the equivalent of around 3,000 football pitches. The activity will create wildlife havens throughout the region.

All the wood needs to be chipped and mixed in careful proportions before being fed into the boiler, which will encompass technology already in use in Scandinavia and other areas.

NOTES TO EDITORS

Sembcorp Utilities UK is the leading industrial utilities and services business on Teesside and one of the largest in the UK, providing steam and electricity to the major manufacturers on the Wilton International site, including Dow, ADVANSA and Huntsman.

A wide range of support services includes an industrial fire fighting and spill protection team, pipeline assurance and high voltage electrical expertise, analytical and environmental services, storage and warehousing and a contact centre employing 150 customer services staff. The business also owns and markets much of the 400 acres of available development land on the near 2000 acre Wilton International Site to inward investors. Visit www.sembutilities.co.uk

Foster Wheeler Ltd. is a global company offering, through its subsidiaries, a broad range of design, engineering, construction, manufacturing, project development and management, research and plant operation services. Foster Wheeler serves the refining, upstream oil and gas, LNG and gas-to-liquids, petrochemical, chemicals, power, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and healthcare industries. The corporation is based in Hamilton, Bermuda, and its operational headquarters are in Clinton, New Jersey, USA. For more information about Foster Wheeler, visit our Web site at www.fwc.com