£200m incinerator plan for Doncaster

Plans have been submitted for an ‘energy recovery facility’ with a 160ft high ‘boiler hall’ in Kirk Sandall that would generate enough power for 60,000 homes.

BH Energy Gap (Doncaster) Ltd says it would take ‘commercial, industrial and municipal’ waste, separate out metals, plastics and rubble and burn the rest using an ‘advanced thermal treatment technology’.

The resulting gas would be used to make steam to power a turbine.

Company bosses say there are large amounts of waste in the local area and the facility would provide a ‘sustainable alternative to landfill disposal, the use of fossil fuels and of raw materials’.

A spokesman for consultancy firm White Young Green said it would help Doncaster Council meet its climate change obligations.

He added: “Non-hazardous residual waste will be used to produce energy using thermal treatment by combustion.

“The process will produce electricity and heat capable of being exported from the site. The proposals provide a method of recovering value from the existing waste stream that would otherwise be directed to landfill.

“The proposed facility will result in a 90 per cent diversion rate and a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels/primary resources.

“The proposals will therefore assist climate change mitigation and contribute to meeting the Climate Change Declaration for Doncaster Council.”

BH Energy Gap has submitted outline plans to Doncaster Council’s planning department. They show the parapet above the boiler hall will stand no higher than 49.5 metres. If approved, it says construction could take two-and-a-half years.

The plant, on land off Sandall Stones Road, would eventually employ up to 40 full-time.

The site had planning permission granted in 2010 for a similar operation to carry out gasification of waste.

But due to technical and commercial difficulties, investor confidence in the technology ‘collapsed’.

In its planning application, BH EnergyGap LLP states the only approach to securing investment is to switch to combustion.

The firm’s website states it would use ‘tried and tested advanced thermal treatment technology’.

It adds: ‘The site is situated in an industrial estate at land north west of Sandall Stones, Kirk Sandall, Doncaster.

‘The area has a long industrial history of manufacturing and distribution businesses. The site has full planning permission for the construction and operation of the plant, which has been implemented, so is no longer subject to time constraints’.