Local MP, Andrew Murrison, has written to ministers for assurance that Northacre Renewable Energy Ltd. (NREL), the company behind the plans for the Westbury incinerator, will not receive financial support for their energy-from-waste facility.
The MP has written to ministers asking for them to assure him that the Contract for Difference (CFD), of which NREL was awarded for its gasification plant, will not be applicable to waste incinerators.
CFD is awarded by the government to give financial support to companies building green infrastructure. NREL were awarded a CFD in 2017 to build a gasification facility in Westbury, which is held to be more environmentally friendly than other forms of incineration.
However, NREL have since abandoned plans to build a gasification facility and will now build a conventional moving grate incinerator, for which they received planning permission following an inquiry earlier this year.
Dr Murrison has written to Grant Shapps, Minister for Energy Security and Net Zero, and Thérèse Coffey, Minister for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs to ensure NREL does not get a green subsidy for a process that is environmentally harmful.
Andrew Murrison said, “NREL have no intention of building an environmentally friendly facility and have no claim to a continued Contract for Difference. The company, not the taxpayer, must bear the cost for this blight on the Wiltshire landscape. NREL may have received planning permission for this abomination from authorities based in Bristol, but the fight in Westbury is not over by a long shot.”
Pictured: Andrew Murrison standing with anti-incinerators protestors outside a meeting of Wiltshire Council last year.
