Biomass plant plans suspended for six months in Wales

Plans to create a new biomass plant in southwest Wales have been put on hold due to uncertainty over the effects the proposed facility could have on the local environment and wildlife, according to the BBC.

If completed, the new biomass plant would create some 560 jobs in Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire. Cypriot owned energy company Egnedol wants to invest £685 million in a new renewable energy facility at the former Gulf refinery at Waterston, and the RNAD Blackbridge site in Milford Haven.

Planning Inspectorate Wales has suspended Egnedol’s application for six months, claiming the company has yet to provide adequate information on the effects the plant might have on several protected species and habitats in the surrounding area.

Egnedol’s website states that “The Milford Haven project has been carefully designed to ensure that the environmental impact is positive and that the sustainability criteria are exemplary.

“We intend to create a sustainable centre of excellence in Wales where independent business units have a symbiotic relationship with each other which enhances their efficiency.”

The finished plant would convert biomass into biogas to produce green electricity and green liquid fuels. Waste heat from the production of electricity will be used in a prawn farm, fish farm, cheese factory, algae production unit and greenhouses.