Eco Composting (Eco) has submitted a planning application to construct one of the UK’s first green energy generating plants in Dorset.
The company plans to invest £7 million in the biomass generating station which will be built on its existing composting and wood recycling site at Parley, on the outskirts of Bournemouth if the application is successful.
The 25,000 tonne capacity facility would be capable of generating 2.7MW of electricity a year which is sufficient to power about 5,000 local homes.
Biomass plants were highlighted in last year’s Stern Report on Global Warming as a way of tackling climate change as they burn wood in a process that is carbon neutral.
Eco’s biomass generator would be fuelled by wood waste from household recycling centres (CA sites) and which already arrives at the Parley site to be chipped. The company also plans to grow willow to augment the fuel supply.
Founded in 1994, Eco Composting is one of the UK’s foremost organics recycling firms, annually processing 120,000 tonnes of material on its 14-acre site at Parley, Dorset. End products include turf, enriched topsoil, compost and woodchip.
Trelawney Dampney, Eco’s Managing Director, said that since the company’s plans first went out for local consultation last year the reaction had been “overwhelmingly positive.”
He added: “Groups such as Friends of the Earth back biomass plants because they are green-friendly and provide ‘clean’ power.
“Currently there is only one other biomass plant operating in the UK although a number are in the pipeline and they have been operating in Europe for five years. They make environmental and economic sense.”
The planning application has been lodged with Dorset County Council with regulatory consents expected to take up to a year.
If permission is granted, Eco’s biomass plant could be up and running by 2009.
Further information
For further information visit the Eco Composting website.