News | Sleaford REP

Schroders Greencoat, the owners of Sleaford Renewable Energy Plant, were once again a sponsor of the NK Community Champions Awards - sponsoring the Contribution to Climate Action category.

The winner of the Climate Action Award was the Moy Park company (based at Anwick) for adopting a series of measures to progress extensive carbon saving. For example, their HGV vehicle fleet has switched from diesel to 100% Bio-Liquid Natural Gas, sourced through anaerobic digestion, with an on-site refuelling station, with the company providing an extensive training course to those involved in its operation.

The other finalists in the Climate Action category were Tim Grigg of Heckington for his active engagement in promoting a brighter climate-conscious future, and the William Alvey School Conservation Club in Sleaford for its pupil-led, whole-school engagement in promoting climate action.

Hugh Unwin of Schroders Greencoat and Greg Atebe, Assistant General Manager at the Sleaford Renewable Energy Plant presented the Award to Moy Park's Jonathan Oldfield.

The Awards were held at the Hub in Sleaford on November 16th. For details of all the awards, go to http://www.nkawards.org

The next deadline for the Sleaford REP Community Power Fund is December 14th with decisions made in January 2023. The Fund supports community projects within a five-mile radius of our power station.

Jo Simpson, General Manager of the Sleaford Renewable Energy Plant said: “Ever since the power station opened, nearly ten years ago, supporting community-based projects and organisations has been important to us, as is the partnership that we have with North Kesteven District Council. We have supported a wide range of initiatives in the area, and I encourage others to apply for funding support.”

For a project to be supported by the Community Power Fund it must meet these objectives:

A grant from the fund has recently supported the restoration and enhancement of a memorial in Sleaford paying tribute to an inspirational local figure.

The Sleaford and District Civic Trust (The Civic Trust) were awarded £980 from the Fund . It’s a charitable organisation formed in 1972 with the purpose of helping advise and guide the development of Sleaford and instill a sense of history and pride within the community.

The Civic Trust applied for the funding to help support a £1,507 restoration of the Harry Gregson memorial in Sleaford, which shines a spotlight on the life and work of Harry Gregson.

A highly regarded art teacher at Carre’s Grammar School, there is a bench sculpture celebrating Harry Gregson’s life and a green named after him near the William Alvey School in Sleaford. The bench sculpture was made by local Michelle de Bruin and was commissioned by The Civic Trust and Sleaford Art Group. 25 years on, the Gregson sculpture needed renovation and efforts to ensure it would continue to be seen and visited.

The Civic Trust applicant Harriott Brand said: “The REP grant gave a large and very helpful amount of money which the Civic Trust was able to build on to bring our total funding up to nearly double. This meant we could engage the schools and plant cowslips with the children, and to give talks and workshops to the pupils of William Alvey and Church Lane.”

William Alvey School aided by the Church Lane School have been heavily involved and engaged in the restoration project. The schools organised a Gregson Day event in September about who Harry Gregson was and what he had done for Sleaford. The children dressed up as artists, teachers, and conservationists to print lino cuts of cowslips. The schools also plan that each year the children will learn of the history of Gregson Green and celebrate Gregson Day.

The project was also informed by advice from The Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust to ensure biodiversity was maintained and managed. 800 cowslip plants were planted by the children of the William Alvey School to bring Gregson Green alive in the spring months.

North Kesteven District Council Executive Board Member Councillor Mervyn Head who chairs the Community Power Fund Panel said:

“We are really pleased to support the Sleaford REP Community Fund as a partner involved in helping distribute the funding. The REP panel was pleased to approve a grant towards the restoration of the Gregson Memorial Bench by The Civic Trust. The Panel especially liked the engagement with two local schools on the project to re-instate the bench on Gregson Green and enhance its surroundings with wildflower planting for the benefit of the residents of Sleaford.

I would encourage any groups locally who meet the criteria to apply for the funding, if they have got a project that could benefit from a grant, much like the Civic Trust has done.”

Members of Interflora’s Product and Supply team, which is based in Sleaford, last week visited the renewable power station to see how it uses straw and woodchip to generate renewable electricity for local homes and businesses, and how it supplies free heat to civic buildings in the town.

Zara Taylor, Senior Supply & Wholesale Manager at Interflora said: “The tour of the Sleaford plant was fascinating. It opened all our eyes about the complexities involved in a renewable energy process. It was so insightful, and we all came away buzzing with new knowledge and ideas for what we might do with our ‘green waste’.”

Jo Simpson, General Manager of Sleaford REP: “We welcome visits from local businesses and community groups to show how the power station operates, and for us to explain the economic and environmental benefits of our operations. It was great to meet the Interflora group.”

A guided tour of the plant takes approximately two hours. We can host a maximum of 12 people at any one time (two groups on the one day), and each visitor must be able to walk unaided as there are stairs and gantries to deal with. Health and safety are of paramount importance so we are sorry that children in Year 6 and below are not allowed to visit. If you would like to register or want to know more, please contact Paul Taylor – [email protected] / 07966 782611.

One day per month, Sleaford Renewable Energy opens its doors to visitors from community groups and education establishments. It's an opportunity for people to see how the plant uses straw and woodchip to generate renewable electricity for local homes and businesses, and to supply free heat to civic buildings in Sleaford.

A guided tour of the plant takes approximately two hours. We can host a maximum of 12 people at any one time (two groups on the one day), and each visitor must be able to walk unaided as there are stairs and gantries to deal with. Health and safety is of paramount importance so we are sorry that children in Year 6 and below are not allowed to visit.

If you would like to register or want to know more, please contact Paul Taylor - [email protected] / 07966 782611. Please note that visits will not take place in December nor in July and August 2023

Our Community Power Fund is entering its third year and we are keen to receive applications from local organisations.

The Power Fund, which is administered by North Kesteven District Council, supports local groups within a five-mile radius of the plant and is happy to receive individual applications for up to £5,000. The Power Fund aims to allocate £25,000 every year.

Greencoat Capital, the owners of the Sleaford Renewable Energy Plant, were once again one of the sponsors of the annual North Kesteven Community Champion Awards. This year's Awards took place at Doddington Hall. This year, we sponsored the Contribution to Climate Action Award, which was a new category .

Benjamin Willetts from Skellingthorpe won the award for his carbon-conscious approach to growing organically in a manner which captures carbon, promotes enhanced soil-health, greater biodiversity and personal well-being. Sleaford Climate Action Network and Les and Christine Parker of Global Sleaford were shortlisted for the Award.

Ben received the award from Hugh Unwin of Greencoat Capital and Jo Simpson, Sleaford REP's General Manager.

Jo Simpson has been appointed General Manager at the Sleaford Renewable Energy Plant (REP). Jo will be responsible for the overall operation of the plant and she succeeds John Cole. Jo has extensive experience in renewable power generation, in particular managing biomass, combined heat & power and hydro power stations for organisations such as SSE.

In addition to her day-to-day duties as General Manager, Jo will join the independent panel of the Sleaford REP/Greencoat Capital Community Power Fund which supports community projects and organisations within a five-mile radius of the plant.

Jo works for Eco2 Ltd, the company that originally developed the Sleaford Renewable Energy Plant. Eco2 now has management responsibility for the plant’s operation (on behalf of Greencoat Capital – the owners of Sleaford REP) as well as continuing to manage the plant’s biomass fuel supply (primarily straw and woodchip) which they have done since the plant started operation in 2014.

Greg Atebe, who has been working at the plant since 2017, remains as Assistant General Manager.

The Sleaford Renewable Energy Plant Community Power Fund has recently awarded grants to the Sleaford Canoe and Kayak Club (to replace parts of their safety and paddling equipment and to buy paddleboards) and to the Sleaford Civic Trust to celebrate the achievements of Harry Gregson, who worked alongside Les Gostick to establish Lollycocks Field as a nature reserve. The Civic Trust funding will cover the repair and renovation of a bench/sculpture on the green named after Mr Gregson which is sited near to William Alvey School in Sleaford.

The Community Power Fund is designed to support not-for-profit groups within five miles of our plant. The fund has £25,000 a year to allocate and grants can be up to £5,000 per application in a year. For our Fund to support a project it must:

Cover the environment, sport, wellbeing or education

Encourage community cohesion to build strong communities

Benefit the community/group by supporting activities and projects that bring wider community benefit.

Applications to the Fund are considered by an independent panel, chaired by Councillor Melvyn Head of North Kesteven District Council. The Council administers the Fund on behalf of the Sleaford Renewable Energy Plant: to find out more please contact the Partnership Team at NKDC on 01529 414155 or email [email protected]

In order to keep running Sleaford Renewable Energy Plant 24/7, we have a small number of strategic storage sites (SSSs) for the straw that is the main fuel for the plant. We draw from these sites, located on farms or disused airfields, on a daily basis to supplement the onsite straw storage hangar that we have at the plant.

At the SSSs, the straw is baled and stored in stacks which are as high as 10 metres (35 feet) – as pictured.

We have a strict safety and security regime at each of the SSSs, which are on private land and so public access is forbidden. The straw storage activities on each of our sites (or indeed any straw storage area) present a variety of hazards, the main ones being: vehicle movements (lorries, telehandlers, tractors/trailers), and the large stacks of straw bales themselves.

Recently, we have noticed people walking or riding across our sites, with some people seen climbing the straw stacks which is extremely dangerous. We are concerned that – quite apart from the fact that access is strictly speaking trespass – those that stray onto our sites are putting themselves at risk.

Our storage team take every precaution to construct and maintain the stacks so that they are stable and robust but they can and occasionally do suffer from partial collapse; straw is a natural material of varying consistency and is liable to change over time. For that reason, even when the SSSs are not being actively worked, access to the public remains prohibited.

The team work extremely hard to ensure the straw stacks are created in a way that will keep them safe, but there is always potential for a stack to collapse – sometimes without warning. With bales weighing over half a tonne each, falling bales can cause injury or death. Moreover, climbing stacks presents the obvious danger of falling from the top of a stack, risking severe injury or death.

So, we ask people to please avoid entering our SSSs. Access is prohibited as a matter of public safety. Designated footpaths are clearly marked, and there are warning signs in place which must be observed.

BWSC, the O&M contractor at the Sleaford REP, is recruiting for an Operations Manager. Reporting to the Plant Manager, the successful candidate will form part of the Senior Management Team and will be responsible for day-to-day plant production and operations in a safe, environmentally sound and economic manner.

The successful candidate will receive a competitive basic salary, life cover, a contributory pension and 25 days holiday per annum.