Defence Online

A second gasification plant in Corby has received initial backing from county council officers – amid fears that the waste treatment capacity gap in Northamptonshire is widening.Northamptonshire county council’s development control committee will meet tomorrow (20 September) to decide whether to approve the Shelton Road plant, which has been proposed by Clean Power Properties Ltd with an aim to produce 16.4MW for the National Grid.The facility – which aims to treat ‘local waste arisings’ – will include materials recovery and advanced thermal gasification plants to treat an estimated 150,000 tonnes of ‘biomass rich’ refuse-derived fuel (RDF) and around 45,000 tonnes of mixed solid waste per year.If constructed, the facility would be located within two miles of Drenl’s proposed 120,000 tonnes-per-year gasification plant on Gretton Brook Road, which was awarded planning permission in early 2014. However, the company has yet to begin work on the plant following its application to extend the catchment area for commercial waste materials (see letsrecycle.com story).The proximity of the two sites has led Corby MP Tom Pursglove, local councillor Robert McKellar and the United Kingdom Without Incineration Network to all question the proposed Shelton Road plant.Local residents have also argued that the creation of 30 full time jobs is not worth the risk of ‘unproven technology’ – and that the concentration of two similar plants in Corby will see an increase in waste from other counties.But, council officers have recommended that the county council approve the facility – arguing that waste treatment requirements are forecast to rise to 860,000 and 920,000 tonnes per year in 2021 and 2031 respectivelyBy rejecting the site, officers warn this would leave Northamptonshire with a capacity gap of 585,000 tonnes by 2021. Assuming that the projected Shelton Road throughput is counted, this would still result in a shortfall of 470,000 tonnes.