BUSINESSES which own surplus land could turn it into cash by growing trees to create electricity.

SembCorp Utilities, which owns Teesside's Wilton International site, is building a £60m power station to burn fast-growing willow coppice, creating electricity for the National Grid and steam for Teesside's chemical companies.

The project, which will create more than 400 jobs, involves the building of one of the UK's largest biomass energy plants, known as Wilton 10.

SembCorp's wood-to-energy operation comes in response to a Government call, following the 1997 Kyoto Agreement, for more energy in the UK to be generated from environmentally-friendly and renewable sources.

But farmers have been slow to sign up to growing the willow coppice trees, with just six planting them so far - filling less than a fifth of Wilton 10's capacity.

Another 130 have expressed an interest, but have not yet made a decision.

So Sembcorp is now targeting commercial landowners to take part in the initiative.

The company, through partners Greenergy and Renewable Energy from Agriculture (Refa), wants business landowners within a 50-mile radius of the Wilton International site to get involved.

Refa is responsible for managing new contracts for supply of coppice on behalf of Greenergy, which is a low-carbon energy company.

The Wilton 10 station, being built at the Wilton International site on Teesside, will be operational by 2007 and aims to generate around 30MW of electricity - enough to power 30,000 homes - by burning up to 300,000 tonnes of wood a year as fuel.

About 7,500 acres of growth is needed within 50 miles of the site - the equivalent of 5,000 football pitches.

Robin Twizell, managing director of Refa, said companies could put unused industrial land to good use as willow coppice could grow with little maintenance, and create extra cashflow.

He said that the massive Drax power station in Yorkshire - which provides between four and eight per cent of the UK's electricity - was also experimenting with burning willow coppice to improve its environmental performance.

"There is a market there," he said. "For farmers, the benefits are huge, because at the moment the wheat price is very low, so they can make more money from growing the willow coppice.

"And, instead of companies having disused industrial land around their factories, they can plant the trees, making it look nicer and also making them money."

The coppice is harvested on a three or four-year cycle, and Government grants are available for planting costs.

Tony Lewis, SembCorp's Wilton 10 project director, said: "There's a real opportunity here for local companies to do something that will be good for their businesses and the environment."

For more information, contact Mr Twizell on (01740) 623300.