Nottinghamshire £70m energy centre given green light by UK Government

A UK-based renewable energy developer’s plans for a £70m energy centre in Nottinghamshire have taken a further step forward having been approved by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Greg Clark MP.

Significant investment will see a new facility developed at Peel Environmental’s Bilsthorpe site. The new facility will export up to 9.6MW of low-carbon electricity to the grid – enough to power 23,000 homes.

The centre comprises two elements. The first, a materials recovery facility (MRF), will produce fuel and recover valuable recyclable materials from residual (left after recycling) waste that would otherwise have been sent to landfill.

The second, a gasification facility, will then use the fuel to create electricity and heat.  Once built, the facility will divert up to 117,000 tonnes of waste from landfill and recover up to 22,000 tonnes of recyclable materials each year.

The facility will also create up to 330 full time equivalent (FTE) jobs during construction and 46 FTE jobs once operational.

Clark agreed with an inspector’s recommendation to grant consent for the Bilsthorpe Energy Centre following examination of the proposals. A planning application for the facility was originally approved by members of Nottinghamshire County Council in 2014, but subsequently called-in for consideration by the government.