£200m North Yorkshire energy centre plans approved

PLANS for a £200m energy centre in North Yorkshire have been given the green light.

Peel Environmental’s Southmoor Energy Centre at Kellingley Colliery will produce enough electricity to power around 63,000 homes and divert waste from landfill. It was approved by North Yorkshire County Council’s planning and regulatory functions committee.

The state-of-the-art facility will make use of existing industrial land at the colliery, near Beal, and will generate both low carbon electricity and heat which could be supplied directly to nearby users.

Richard Barker, development manager, said: “We are very pleased with the decision which will now pave the way to deliver a vital new energy source for the region.

“The decision will also unlock a £200m investment locally, creating up to 38 jobs during operation and hundreds more during construction. There is already the skillset in the local area to deliver energy infrastructure and an appetite for valuable, skilled positions, which we hope will be a real boost for Beal and the surrounding communities.”

The Southmoor Energy Centre will create around 38 full time jobs and up to 375 positions during construction. It will be produce up to 26MW of energy from up to 280,000 tonnes per year of non-hazardous residual waste.

The centre, which will be entirely privately funded, will contribute to Government targets to widen the UK’s energy mix and help to reduce the amount of material being sent to landfill and. The facility will save around 95,000 tonnes of CO2 each year, compared with sending the waste to landfill.

The consent, subject to conditions and a section 106 agreement, is another landmark for Peel Environmental after City of York Council granted consent for an anaerobic digestion facility and co-located horticultural glasshouse at Wheldrake, York, earlier this year.

Peel Environmental, a division of infrastructure, real estate and investment enterprise The Peel Group, owns, manages and develops properties in the waste, mineral and environmental technology sectors.