TNEI have carried out an Environmental Impact Assessment and submitted a planning application on behalf of Future Earth Energy for the Drakelow Renewable Energy Centre in Derbyshire. The proposal is for a 15MW CHP ready Energy from Wasteplant on the site of the former Drakelow C Power Station. The plant willuse gasification technology to converttreated commercial and industrial waste (paper, card and plastics) delivered to the site as a Biomass Rich Fuel. The UK currently produces a surplus of this fuel with much of it exported to continental Europe for energy generation.
The gasification process would produce a synthetic gas to generate steam to drive a steam turbine so that electricity would be generated and exported to the local distribution network. The plant also has the potential to export heat in the form of warm water to commercial or residential users on the adjacent consented Drakelow Park mixed use development.
The proposal has been well received by Derbyshire County Council which is the determining authority and within South Derbyshire District Council. TNEI provided community engagement support prior to submission of the EfW application and has liaised with consultees including the Environment Agency during the process to date.The planning application and accompanying documents can be accessed via:
The project has been a good example of TNEI’s Planning and Environmental, Technical and Power Systems teams providing complimentary inputs to deliver a complex project within challenging timescales. Those timescales required maintenance of a programme that would allow Future Earth Energy the opportunity to partake in any Contracts for Difference auction that takes places in October 2015. TNEI’s expertise in bringing together and managing a specialist multi-disciplinary EIA team ensured that the required timescales were met while still producing a full and robust EfW Environmental Impact Assessment to inform the scheme design and the decision making process.
TNEI is providing further support during the life of the planning application and throughout the environmental permitting process.
