On the 29th November 2013, Axis submitted a detailed planning application to Nottinghamshire County Council (NCC) for the development of Bilsthorpe Energy Centre (BEC). The development comprises a plasma gasification facility, materials recovery facility (MRF), energy generation infrastructure and associated infrastructure.
The BEC is designed to manage approximately 117,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) of non-hazardous residual waste. It would have an electricity generating capacity of approximately 13.6 Megawatts (MWe), of which around 9.6 MWe would be available for export to the grid.
Following consultation on the application, NCC’s Corporate Director of Policy, Planning and Corporate Services recommended that that NCC’s Planning and Regulatory Committee be minded to grant planning permission for the development. On 18th November 2014 the aforementioned Committee voted 5-4 in favour of the recommendation i.e. that they were minded to grant planning permission for the BEC development.
The decision was subsequently referred to the Secretary of State who, on 19th December 2014, directed, that the application be referred to him instead of being dealt with by NCC.
An appeal inquiry was subsequently held which commenced on the 3rd November 2015 and sat for a total of seven days (3-6 and 10-12 November 2015).
On the 1st June 2016 the Secretary of State confirmed that planning permission had been granted for the development.
Client: Peel Environmental Management (UK) Ltd and Bilsthorpe Waste Ltd