Government approves Energy Park

News

The government has approved an Energy Park that will take mixed waste and recycle and remanufacture every single element to produce renewable energy, glass, building blocks, metals and compounds.

It is claimed that the centre, which will be built by Green technology company Peterborough Renewable Energy (PREL) in Peterborough, will be the first of its kind in the UK.

PREL hopes that the Energy Park will be the first of a nationwide network that could eventually replace the need for future landfill.

The PREL process brings together mechanical recycling, food-waste digestion, gasification and plasma melting.

The Peterborough Energy Park is expected to bring more than 300 jobs during the construction phase and 109 skilled green-collar jobs once operational.

PREL claims that a network of energy parks could achieve the 4,000MW of biomass power needed to meet the UK renewable requirement for 2020 and deliver a saving of 36 million tonnes.

‘This plant will provide reliable, low-carbon energy for years to come,’ said David Kidney, under secretary of state at the Department of Energy and Climate Change, after announcing the approval of the Energy Park build.

‘The UK needs to generate 15 per cent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020 and energy from biomass could contribute as much as a third of that.

‘Meeting our target means we have to follow the east of England’s example and build more plants like this.’

Chris Williams, managing director of PREL, said his company is delighted the government has given them the go ahead for their first Energy Park.

‘As a nation, we have set ourselves very ambitious renewables targets and only by embracing renewable technologies such as PREL’s will we be able to achieve these,' He said.

‘Waste can be a valuable resource and using it in a sustainable way will play an essential role in making our future more green.’

Stewart Jackson, MP for Peterborough, said: ‘I look forward to seeing the positive environmental benefits that the Energy Park will bring for Peterborough, significantly reducing our carbon footprint, diverting waste from landfill and creating jobs in green industry.’