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A new 95 Mega Watt power plant capable of turning 600,000 tonnes of waste each year into electricity and heat, to be built at Ince in Cheshire, was approved by the Government today.

A new 95 Mega Watt power plant capable of turning 600,000 tonnes of waste each year into electricity and heat, to be built at Ince in Cheshire, was approved by the Government today.

The waste, which would have otherwise gone to landfill, will instead be used to generate electricity to power a new Resource Recovery Park. Excess electricity will also be exported to the National Grid.

The approval follows a public inquiry held into both the power plant and the Resource Recovery Park, which recommended that consent should be granted for the construction and operation of the plant and also that planning permission be given for the Resource Recovery Park.

Energy Minister and Climate Change minister Lord Hunt said:

“We need to increase our use of renewable energy and to find solutions to the UK’s waste problem. This power plant will convert over half a million tonnes of waste each year into energy.

“The Inspector recommended the power plant be granted consent after a thorough public inquiry. I am satisfied that the mitigation measures to be put in place will protect the amenity of local villages.”

The separate planning permission for the Resource Recovery Park was also given today by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, John Denham.

Notes to Editors

1. Proposals to construct power stations with a capacity greater than 50 MW requires the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change’s consent under section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989. Planning permission can be deemed to be granted under section 90(2) of the Town and Country Planning Act. 1990.

2. The appeal made to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government under section 78 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 was against failure by Cheshire County Council to give notice within the prescribed period of a decision on an application for outline planning permission for the Resource Recovery Park.

3. Copies of the Inspector’s Report (which covers both the Refuse Derived Fuel power plant and the Resource Recovery Park) and the decision letter in respect of the Resource Recovery Park are available on the CLG website at: http://www.communities.gov.uk/planningandbuilding/planning/decisionsplanning/ They are also available from:

Michael Taylor, CLG: 020-7944-8711

Copies of the Inspector’s Report and the decision letter in respect of the power plant are available from:

William Long DECC: 020-7215 6795 or w.long@decc.gsi.gov.uk

Contacts:

Department of Energy and Climate Change
nds.decc@coi.gsi.gov.uk