Power station plan’s all fired up to go
A power station could be built just yards from a fish market, top restaurants and a marina.
The sawmill at Troon Harbour wants to build the steam plant to power its operation and make cash by selling on to the National Grid.
The radical plan would include an 82- foot high chimney for waste gases visible from across town.
Irish owners Glennon Brothers want to install a thermal power plant producing 10.85 mega watts.
If all the power was used to provide electricity rather than heat, it could power up to 20,000 homes.
But Troon Councillor Nan McFarlane says there is nothing to fear and WELCOMES the project.
She said: “This is good news all round, creating jobs, helping the firm grow and is good for the environment.
“They will bring wood in, strip it and all the bark, sawdust and surplus will be made into biomass pellets.
“The whole tree will then be recycled on site.”
Glennon took over the Adam Wilson yard eight years ago and are desperate to increase production.
Due to a lack of piped mains gas they can currently only kiln dry 50,000 cubic metres of wood a year.
Water content in trees has to be drastically reduced to form planks for building.
They want to increase capacity to up to 160,000 cubic metres.
The company has been carrying out environmental tests away from public gaze in recent months.
Only now have these reports become available and will be put to a future South Ayrshire planning committee.
The power station would be built on the site of the old Ailsa shed on land already owned by Glennon.
Spread over 1.6 acres it would include storage areas for the waste wood which will be burned at high temperatures.
The steam will then drive a traditional turbine to create electricity.
Councillor McFarlane says the biomass plant would take truckloads of wood waste and bark off the streets.
Glennon bosses have met her at the site.
She said: “This fits in with what is happening at the harbour and is on a site which has always had industry.
“I think it is madness at the moment to have to remove surplus wood by road.
“This will be a 21st century solution to the way they process the wood.”
If approved there will be a 3.6 foot wide chimney stack reaching 82 feet hight
Consultants to the company say: “The building is of a relatively small scale and will be set in a presently industrial area so is unlikely to have any significant effect on the local landscape.
“Th e co m p l e t e d development will have a small effect on the local landscape due to the new stack to be built.
“However, this will be one narrow structure although, depending on the height of the stack, this effect may be observable across Troon.”