North Norfolk District Council gives Planning Green Light for Standard Gas Technologies’ carbon-removing SG100 energy-from-waste plant
Preparations are now in full swing for the pre-commercialisation commissioning of Standard Gas Technologies’ first SG100 plant at Scottow Enterprise Park north of Norwich following temporary planning approval from North Norfolk District Council at year end.
SG100 technology offers a transformational non-burn energy recovery and carbon-removing option for the management of wide-ranging non-recyclable waste feedstock. The Company says the technology has the potential to transform waste management and make an important contribution to achieving Net Zero and mitigating Climate Change.
“We are delighted with NNDC’s decision,” says Standard Gas chief executive, David Whitmarsh. “The four key units of the first SG100 are mechanically complete, and the planning green light means we can now move full speed ahead towards pre-commercialisation commissioning of the plant in the second quarter of the year. Having built the plant in Norfolk, it makes sense to implement this process in situ. Local contractors – including our engineering design partners, electronics specialists, and fabricators – have all played a key role in the plant’s construction and will support our preparations for the process, which will conclude with the SG100.01 in continuous operation for 30 days.”
The plant’s pre-commercialisation commissioning will be undertaken at the headquarters of Standard Gas’ engineering design partner, Swift Technology Group, where the SG100.01 has been built. During the process, pre-prepared dried, shredded, baled, wrapped, and odour-free feedstock – mainly non-recyclable paper and some plastic – will be processed to generate clean product gas and carbon-removing char. Inputs and outputs will be monitored throughout the 30-day operation using high-precision analytical equipment.
Outlining how the SG100 process works, Standard Gas’ Technical Director, Laurence Sharrock, notes: “The core SG100 unit employs advanced thermal conversion – pyrolysis and high temperature gas cracking – to produce co-products of synthesis gas and carbon char. We do not incinerate the feedstock and there is no incinerator included in the SG100. That is the clear difference between our technology and incineration, enabling us to optimise energy and resource recovery from society’s discarded products that are currently buried in landfill or burnt in incinerators.”
In full commercial operation, the technology is designed to process up to 48,000 tonnes of pre-processed feedstock in a year. A single SG100 can generate around 40,000 MWh of power – enough for 10,000 homes – and remove up to 25,000 tonnes of CO2e, which is equivalent to the emissions of 5,000 cars. The SG100 process offers energy and product options, from electricity, steam, and heat, through gas-for-grid to renewable transport fuels, and chemicals. Co-product carbon char offers a route to carbon removal via sequestration in construction and agricultural applications.
While the final location for SG100.01 has yet to be decided, Standard Gas has indicated that it will likely be a site in either Norfolk or East Yorkshire.
“We have identified a site in Norfolk and have been building relationships with regional organisations including the University of East Anglia,” says Laurence Sharrock. “If the SG100 stays in Norfolk, there is the potential to collaborate with others in building the region’s renewable and sustainable energy expertise.”
Wherever the plant is located, Standard Gas is planning to establish in tandem a research and development centre and a laboratory for analysis of inputs and outputs from the SG100 and potentially third-party products. This would likely create 30-40 permanent, high-skilled jobs.
In November, Standard Gas also announced an agreement with px Group, the owner and operator of Saltend Chemicals Plant, Humberside, for the deployment of SG100 technology at the site, with potential for multiple plants which could lead to total investments of over £100m and creating 100-plus jobs.
Having raised around £50m to develop the technology and build the first SG100, Standard Gas already has projects for up to 20 SG100 plants at several different locations in the UK and EU. The company has also established partnerships with manufacturers and operations and maintenance contractors for commercial rollout of the technology.
David Whitmarsh is excited about the future for SG100 technology: “We have ongoing discussions with leading global companies in a range of industrial sectors – including cement/concrete, steel, shipping, transportation, property, IT, chemicals – which are all significant energy consumers looking to decarbonise. Industrial clusters in the UK and EU are also interested in our technology for both power and decarbonisation. The UK and the wider world need to drive hard towards a Net Zero economy and our SG100 technology has an important contribution to make.”
Standard Gas developed and proved its technology on a commercial scale plant – the SG50 – at its Huntingdon site. Laurence Sharrock says: “The gas we produced – certified ‘End of Waste’ by the Environment Agency and as clean as natural gas – was initially used for electricity generation. But upgraded via methanation, it can also be used for grid injection, renewable transport fuels, and chemical feedstock. The biochar/char can be sequestered in concrete, where research indicates it can enhance structural strength, or used as a soil enhancer/conditioner in agriculture or horticulture. Research also indicates biochar can be used in high-strength lightweight composite materials. Following discussions with specialist engineering companies, with the addition of electrolysis, we know we can also generate Green Hydrogen.”
Following the successful development of the SG50, Standard Gas partnered with Swift Technology Group to upgrade the engineering design to increase both the processing capacity and the operational efficiency of the new plant, the SG100.
Adding some details about the technology, Laurence Sharrock says: “The SG100 process feeds prepared feedstock into a sealed vessel in the absence of oxygen. The vessel is then heated externally to a temperature at which the feedstock volatilises into a synthesis gas leaving a residual carbon char which is predominantly biogenic. Carbon char, which is like a ground charcoal and up to 90% carbon, is removed, cooled, and stored ready for reuse and sequestration. The gas is further heated to prevent tar formation, then rapidly cooled, cleaned, and stored for use. Once the plant is running, the SG100 is self-powered thanks to its ground-breaking thermal efficiency.”
A single, relatively small footprint SG100 plant, comprising 5 linked systems, is about the size of 2 tennis courts and as high as a house. With transport space, waste receptacles, gasometer, etc., footprint is about 1 hectare. Standard Gas says 10-15 units sharing certain systems could fit into 4-5 hectares.
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