Power Minerals Ltd acquired by EP Power Europe
Pioneering UK fly-ash business changes hands in international deal with Prague-based EPPE
THE founder of an award-winning company which finds sustainable uses for the mountains of ash left over by power generation at the UK’s coal-burning power stations has described the firm’s sale as ‘a vote of confidence in the sector and the UK’.
When Nigel Waldron and partner Peter Brennan founded Birmingham-based Power Minerals Ltd (PML) in 2003, it was an ambitious two-man start-up with two desks and two telephones.
Today PML employ people across three UK sites, directing millions of tonnes of power station ash by-product for re-use in manufacturing, construction and many of the key infrastructure projects that are reshaping the country.
Now PML have changed hands in a landmark deal with Prague-based energy utility EP Power Europe (EPPE), who have purchased the company for an undisclosed sum from German energy firm STEAG GmbH, who acquired it in 2010.
Mr Waldron (pictured) said: ‘This deal is a huge vote of confidence in PML, the broader sector and in the UK. It will open up new opportunities for us and take the business in exciting new directions as well as ensuring that our employees have a bright future.
‘It provides a huge European network within which we can operate, as well as potentially opening up investment in plant and processing which will take us forward as the energy markets evolve.
‘However, while this deal represents a change in ownership, it doesn’t mean we will be changing the close way we work with our key partners, such as Drax and SSE.
‘It is the strength of these relationships that have made PML a success and we are committed to their continued success.’
The fly ash created by coal-fired energy generation serves as a highly ecological and cost-effective substitute for clinker in cement production and as an additive for replacing cement in concrete.
Fly ash significantly reduces the CO2 footprint of cement, as well as costs, and improves cement quality for the construction industry.
The ash supplied by PML is used in a vast array of industrial processes, from concrete and cement to road building, manufacturing, energy, civil engineering and construction.
Recently, PML played an instrumental role in the early completion of the UK’s biggest road building project – the upgrading of the A14 in Cambridgeshire. Working in partnership with Drax, the UK’s biggest power station, the company supplied more than 10,000 tonnes of ash from the Yorkshire site for use in the scheme.
