South Humber Bank Energy Centre gets green light

Development of the  South Humber Bank Energy Centre has been given the green light by the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

The planning consent will see development of this Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project, comprising the construction and operation of an energy from waste plant of up to 95 megawatts gross capacity and associated development including an electrical connection, landscaping and access.

The application for South Humber Bank was submitted to the Planning Inspectorate for consideration by EP Waste Management Ltd on 09 April 2020 and accepted for examination on 04 May 2020. Following an examination during which the public,  Statutory Consultees and Interested Parties were given the opportunity to give evidence to the Examining Authority, recommendations were made to the Secretary of State on 10 August 2021.

This is the 103rd Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project and 62nd energy application to have been examined by The Planning Inspectorate within the timescales laid down in the Planning Act 2008.

The Planning Inspectorate’s Chief Executive, Sarah Richards said: “The Planning Inspectorate has examined more than 100 nationally significant infrastructure projects ensuring local communities had the opportunity of being involved in the examination of projects that may affect them. Local people, the local authority and other interested parties were able to participate in the examination. The Examining Authority listened and gave full consideration to local views and the evidence gathered during the examination before making their recommendations.”

South Humber Bank Energy Centre (SHBEC) will comprise a number of buildings and structures. The Main Building includes a fuel reception hall, fuel storage bunker, boiler hall, turbine hall, a flue gas treatment facility, and emissions stacks. Air-cooled condensers and an administration block would be situated nearby or adjoining the Main Building.  There will also be vehicle weighbridges, internal access roads, ramps, parking, tanks and silos, a heavy goods vehicle (HGV) holding area and an electrical substation.

SHBEC will operate 24 hours per day, seven days per week with occasional shutdown periods for planned maintenance work.  The fuel source for SHBEC will be ‘Refuse Derived Fuel’ (RDF).  RDF is residual waste that has been processed to comply with the particular specifications of the end user regarding calorific value, moisture content, quantity and format. All RDF is likely to be delivered to the Site by road, using HGVs, via a new access road created from South Marsh Road.  SHBEC will make use of up to 753,500 tonnes of RDF per year to produce enough electricity to supply the needs of close to 100,000 homes.

RDF will be combusted within SHBEC at temperatures above 850°C.  The heat created will be used to produce steam, which can then be used to generate electricity using a steam turbine.  Some of the steam could potentially be used to provide heat to local users.  Any non-combustible material, such as glass, metal or stone, will be collected at the end of the combustion process and sent off site for reuse and recycling where possible.

Emissions from SHBEC will be cleaned by a sophisticated flue gas treatment facility before being released into the atmosphere.  Emissions will be carefully controlled and monitored to ensure that they meet the stringent limits set by the Environment Agency and relevant legislation.

 If you would like to read more stories like this, then please click here