Incinerator presentation was ‘open and transparent’
THE company which is planning to build a waste incinerator in Westbury, Northacre Renewable Energy Ltd (NREL), has said that they are an open and transparent group following criticism of its virtual community presentation, held last month.
Following the presentation, Westbury Gasification Action Group (WGAG) said that many of the company’s arguments for the plant are flawed and described information given as ‘extremely misleading.’ Local MP Andrew Murrison, said he would do everything in his power to oppose the application.
The fourth planning application from NREL and The Hills Group, has changed from a gasification plant to an energy from waste facility,
NREL has expanded on points raised at the meeting.
Is there going to be a public exhibition and liaison committee with the community?
On the public exhibition, the Government advice, last updated on 3rd July, is that conferences and exhibitions must not be held in person, unless the only attendees are employees of a single company. As a result, NREL is not in a position to hold a public exhibition. On the liaison committee, yes, NREL plans to set up a liaison committee with the community.
Two hours’ travelling time for lorries dropping off waste – coming from how far?
Areas including Bath and NE Somerset, Swindon, Mendip, S Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Worcestershire, Dorset – up to two hours’ driving time from Westbury.
NREL analysis for the catchment area for the facility is based upon a drive time analysis using standard mapping assumptions and it includes the following areas:
Inner market: Wiltshire, Bath & NE Somerset, Mendip, Swindon
West: Somerset (exc Mendip), North Somerset, Bristol and South Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
North East: Vale of White Horse, West Berkshire, Basingstoke and Deane
South East: Test Valley, Winchester, Havant, Southampton, New Forest
Dorset: Dorset (excluding Weymouth), Bourne-mouth, Poole
Will it deliver commercial and industrial waste?
It mostly will be industrial waste. The majority of the 750,000 tonnes will be commercial and industrial waste, but would not preclude household waste.
What is the grid offset and how is it calculated?
The energy from the waste plan, electricity, will go to the national grid.
Sending electricity to the grid from a generator such as the Northacre Facility, displaces other forms of electricity generation which are used to meet demand.
An NREL spokesperson said, “We are an open and transparent group and have discussed our plans with key local stakeholders including members of Parliament and the county council and local media, ahead of the virtual community event.
“We wanted to make the event as open and accessible as possible. The event was detailed, informative and interactive. We made every effort to answer all the questions that were lodged with us during the live event, and any that we didn’t cover will be addressed in an expanded FAQs section of our website that will be available shortly.
“Around 100 people attended the event live and we anticipate many more will follow it now that it is available to follow on-demand. Having this event available on-demand also means it is more accessible and available to a wider group of people and stakeholders than would have been the case had we been able to hold a traditional community event.
“Our pre-application consultation ended on Friday, July 17 and we are in the process of collating questions and updating our FAQ page. While this consultation process has now closed, any member of the local community who wishes to contact NRE can do so via email to northacre@bioenergyinfrastructure.com, or at www.northacre-energy.co. uk/ contact, or via the post to Northacre Renewable Energy, Davidson House, Reading, RG1 3EU.”
More questions than answers say action group
MEMBER of Westbury Gasification Action Group (WGAG) Harriet James, was one of the speakers at an extraordinary town council meeting, held online on 15th July, to gauge local people’s reactions to the latest plans from NREL. She comments on the following points:-
Carbon emissions
“The misnamed North-acre Renewable Energy and Bioenergy Infrastructure allege a net carbon emission benefit from the incinerator of ~58,000 tonnes per annum compared with landfill. Their comparison with landfill is a very smelly red herring. The comparison should be with other available methods of waste disposal which are higher up the waste hierarchy than landfill which only forms a very small part of the present waste management in Wiltshire.
“They should be making comparisons with anaerobic digestion, incinerators with guaranteed combined heat and power, carbon capture, improved recycling and composting. This is in line with the Waste Regulations which require local authorities to manage all waste in accordance with the waste hierarchy and identify measures for continuous improvement.
The efficiency of the plant
“Are NRE really expecting us to believe that a plant which is less efficient than a conventional gas fired power station and exporting a minute amount of electricity, will produce a growing net carbon benefit to Wiltshire over its 25 year life?
Transporting waste by train
I think the answer lies with the railways. Westbury’s railway sidings are mostly unused but they are within 150m of the MBT plant. Without an incinerator the MBT plant would continue to process Wiltshire’s residual household waste.
“All the MBT’s refuse derived fuel could be taken out of Westbury by train to stations near Lakeside EfW at Slough, Avonmouth, Javelin Park (Gloucester) or Marchwood (Southampton). Other waste for incineration could be taken out of Salisbury and Chippenham by train, thus sharing the environmental impact of waste management across the county. This would reduce the present impact of Wiltshire’s waste travelling to other counties by road. Some of Wiltshire’s waste could also be brought in to the MBT plant by train.
“Using the railways would remove the projected minimum of 53 trucks of waste coming into Westbury per day which would reduce the carbon footprint of Wiltshire’s waste compared to the present strategy.
Will NRE be feeding electricity to households?
“NRE offers no serious prospect of supplying electricity to businesses or households, let alone supplying combined heat and power at a reduced rate to give the community some financial return for suffering the impacts on air quality, health and landscape.
“This is NRE’s fourth application for different nuances of incineration. The fact that none of the previous iterations have been built suggests that there is uncertainty about the viability of such a project.”
