Business changes hands in international deal
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.
Sutton Coldfield-based Power Minerals was founded Nigel Waldron and partner Peter Brennan in 2003 as a two-man start-up with two desks and two telephones.
Today it employs 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.
PML has changed hands with EP Power Europe purchasing the company for an undisclosed sum from German energy firm STEAG who acquired it in 2010.
Mr Waldron 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 our employees having 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 replacing cement in concrete.
Fly ash significantly reduces the carbon dioxide footprint of cement, as well as costs and improves cement quality for the construction industry.
The ash supplied by PML is used in a huge number 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 project, the rebuilding 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 to be used in the A14’s construction.
