Hatching plans for poultry power

The plant is the first of its kind in Scotland

A project which turns poultry litter into electricity is to be officially opened by Scotland's Environment Minister Rhona Brankin on Wednesday.

The Westfield Biomass Plant at Cardenden in Fife uses ground-breaking technology to convert tonnes of poultry waste into electricity for thousands of homes.

The plant - the first of its kind in Scotland - also uses the litter to produce high-grade agricultural fertiliser for the country's farmers.

The power station is in Fife

The Scottish Executive will hold the project up as a prime example of industrial innovation being applied to combat climate change.

The Westfield Biomass project is described as the world's most technologically advanced power station to be fuelled by poultry litter.

The plant has attracted interest from Europe and America since it became fully operational in October.

The high temperatures involved mean it can generate enough electricity to power 20,000 homes.

It will convert 110,000 tonnes of the litter a year into electricity, with the ash waste from the process being turned into agricultural fertiliser.

Ms Brankin will say that the plant is critical in terms of the Scottish Executive's programme for combating global warming through alternative energy sources.

Alternative energy

The owners of the site, in the heart of an area which was once dominated by coal mines, hope this will be the first of several developments on what they have dubbed an energy park.

The project is one of several alternative energy programmes now up and running in Scotland.

However, its use of poultry waste as fuel was pre-empted by a generating station at Eye in Suffolk - in the centre of one of the UK's largest poultry areas.

It consumes more than 150,000 tonnes of poultry litter per year, enough to fill 25 football pitches to a depth of six feet.