ROLLS-ROYCE is to build a new cooling facility in Derby which will help the firm develop its next generation of engines.

The company will build the facility next to Test Beds 57 and 58 at its Wilmore Road site in Sinfin after being granted planning permission by Derby City Council.

It will be used in the development process of the Trent XWB, the latest addition to the Trent family of engines, which is currently being developed at the Derby site.

The XWB (extra wide body) is an engine specifically designed for the Airbus A350 XWB, for which Rolls-Royce is the sole engine supplier.

Despite not yet even being in production, the XWB has already become the fastest-selling Rolls-Royce engine in its history.

Towards the end of last year, Airbus said it had started making the first parts for its aircraft out of carbon composite.

Airbus hopes the aircraft will rival Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, for which Rolls-Royce supplies the Trent 1000 engine, also built in Derby.

So far, more than 500 orders have already been received for the A350 XWB from 32 customers.

At the Dubai Air Show in November, the number of orders Rolls-Royce received for the XWB engine went past the 1,000 mark.

The Trent XWB is currently being designed and developed at Rolls-Royce's civil aerospace division in Sinfin.

At present, the company uses air to cool down engines but the Trent XWB requires nitrogen gas.

The cooling facility, which consists of two nitrogen tanks and six vaporizers, would convert liquid nitrogen into nitrogen gas, which would then be fed into electronic circuitry built into the engines.

Rolls-Royce has declined to comment on the building of the facility or how much it will cost.

But the planning application said: "This type of testing is very specialised and is necessary to fulfil the technical specification for testing the latest engine types.

"It is intended to significantly upgrade the testing capability of Test Beds 57 and 58 and introduce an additional capability to the Sinfin plant in preference to an alternative location overseas.

"When implemented, it will also provide the Derby site with a distinct advantage over other locations worldwide."

Rolls-Royce employs around 10,000 people at Sinfin.

John Forkin, director of Marketing Derby, an organisation set up to promote investment in the city, said: "This is excellent news.

"We've always maintained that Rolls-Royce is a global company, which is used to competing on a global level."

Dr Bryan Jackson, chairman of East Midlands Development Agency, said: "We are delighted that the Trent XWB engine will be tested here in Derby."