Progress made on £150m renewable energy plant

Plans for a huge renewable energy facility to be built near Ellesmere Port – which would create more than 500 jobs and represent an investment of £150m – have taken a major step forward.Peel Environmental, part of Peel L&P, has signed a deal with Progressive Energy to work on the UK’s first commercial scale bio-substitute natural gas (BioSNG) plant.On the back of this, an application for the development has been submitted.The facility will generate renewable gas from up to 175,000 tonnes of bio-resources, including unrecyclable wood and refuse-derived fuel. This will be used in the transport sector, generating enough gas to power up to 1,000 low carbon HGVs and buses every year.A total of 500 jobs would be created during the construction phase, as well as 35 full-time.BioSNG is a replacement for the regular natural gas that is currently supplied to homes and businesses. It can be injected into the existing gas network, providing the opportunity for the plant at Protos to export fuel to the wider UK without the need for any road movements.Subject to planning approval and funding, Progressive Energy’s plant is due to start production in 2022.