Chester firm powers-up with £2bn China deal
A CHESHIRE property development company has wooed Chinese investment of £2bn to build two green power stations in Wales.
Orthios Eco Parks, a Chester-based company founded by architect Sean McCormick, has struck a deal with SinoFortone Group, a Chinese private development company, with the support of the Chinese State, for sites at Holyhead on Anglesey and Port Talbot in South Wales.
The news of the investment coincides with Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit which began on Monday.
The two power plants in Wales will be developed over the next three years, after which the technology will be rolled out to China and developing countries.
Orthios’ technology sees the plants take waste heat from power stations that will be used to warm water for seafood and vegetable farming. The system is also designed to capture carbon dioxide emissions.
The 299 megawatt Holyhead plant in Anglesey will employ at least 500 people, as will the 349 megawatt Port Talbot plant in south Wales.
In exchange for the investment, Orthios will source between 50% and 60% of the materials and components needed to build the plants from China.
“We have spent five years researching and developing this model and the investment from China will help us role it out across the planet,” said Mr McCormick.
Dr Peter Zhang, chief executive f SinoFortone Group said: “We were impressed with the Orthios professional team and how much research and development they have invested in their unique combined food and power solution.
“Orthios have developed a modular, efficient and scalable deliverable solution for food and power production. With us and the Chinese State as their backers we are confident we can maximize efficiencies and provide a production facility to deliver this solution around the world. Orthios and SinoFortone are ready to commence the developments now and have planning permissions in place for the projects in two very strategic UK port locations. We see this as a ground changing model that many countries will benefit from and are delighted to be teamed with the Orthios team.”
The Orthios team has designed their first Eco Park to sit on the former Anglesey Aluminium site at Holyhead. It has been working with site owner Rio Tinto’s legacy company.
Julian Sandbach, director at JLL, the property consultant advising Rio Tinto, said: “Since we began work on this project in 2009, Rio Tinto’s priority has been to ensure the economic sustainability of the site by enabling a development that will have a positive impact on the local area. This investment represents a major milestone in delivering that legacy and will bring forward a redevelopment that has economic benefits and job creation at its heart.”
