Sypro’s debut in energy sector with Ferrybridge deal

The deal represents East Yorkshire-based Sypro’s first venture into the UK energy sector. The new power plant is being built by Multifuel Energy – a joint venture between energy company SSE, which owns the Ferrybridge Power Station, and Wheelabrator Technologies. Simon Hunt, managing director of Sypro, said: “This is a local project which we are really excited about. It’s great to work with a large plc like SSE, which has a massive annual capital build programme.

“We see a lot of potential in the energy sector, particularly with the capital investment in renewable energy sources. We want to capitalise on this opportunity and see what others are out there for Sypro.”

Sypro declined to reveal the value of the deal. The 68MW multi-fuel plant in West Yorkshire will use a range of waste-derived fuels to generate electricity and heat. Construction is under way and the facility is due to be completed by 2015.

Hundreds of jobs are expected to be created during the construction phase and more than 50 full-time workers will be required once the plant is fully operational.

The main contractor is Zurich-based Hitachi Zosen Inova, an international specialist in energy from waste installations and multi-fuel plants.

Sypro is a supplier of project management software for new engineering contracts – a family of contracts used in the management of construction projects in the UK.

Sypro’s turnover for the year to December 2012 was £250,000 and it is forecasting £500,000 for this financial year.

Its headcount currently stands at five people, after having just taken on a new business development manager. Earlier this year, Sypro’s software was chosen by contractors building a network of substations in Hong Kong.

Sypro was established in 2007 and today Balfour Beatty, Mansell and Sir Robert McAlpine are included among its client base.

The Sypro system has been used to project manage the A164 upgrade and the new Beverley Community Hospital, both in East Yorkshire.

Consent to develop the new multi-fuel energy plant at Ferrybridge Power Station was granted by the Department of Energy and Climate Change in October 2011.

Paul Smith, SSE’s managing director of generation, previously said: “Multifuel technology is a tried and tested way of generating clean, base-load power.

“The new multifuel plant will provide additional diversity to SSE’s generation portfolio and make a useful contribution to ensuring we have reliable energy supplies for the future.”