Co-op shelves NOMA power station
THE Co-operative Group has shelved plans for a green energy centre to supply its NOMA development due to funding issues and problems finding an appropriate location.
The 17MW combined heat and power plant was first mooted in 2011 and held up as one of the development’s key green features.
But an update on the scheme’s progress prepared for Manchester City Council shows a location could not be identified and the “uncertainty” over Government policy on green energy had hampered potential funding.
The report said: “A series of detailed assessments were undertaken on a range of generating solutions, fuel types and sources. However, no combination of technologies and fuel types at a scale suitable for an urban location has yet been found which could secure the funding needed to construct the plant.
“The uncertainty over long term central Government policy on green energy has also been a material factor in discouraging investment in the sector generally.”
This is despite the Co-op announcing in 2011 that it had appointed Dalkia to build the energy facility off Cheetham Hill Road to be powered by locally-sourced waste wood that would otherwise have been sent to landfill.
It is now considering an energy network of the kind being piloted in Manchester’s St Peter’s Square, where heat is generated at a central location and piped to buildings around the square. It will use natural gas, but planners hope to connect it to a more sustainable fuel in the future.
The NOMA report added: “Having recognised that the initial proposition does not appear to be deliverable at this point in time, the NOMA team has now been working on an alternative approach. Using the experience gained by, Manchester City Council through the St Peter’s Square energy network, the team is now undertaking feasibility work to establish how a similar solution could be delivered within NOMA.”
A spokesman did not say what had happened to the Dalkia agreement but stressed the Co-op was still exploring options regarding power for NOMA.
