£48m plant will create energy out of waste

DEVELOPERS have submitted plans for a major waste-to-energy power station in Derby.

Cyclamax, the firm behind the £48m scheme, said it would bring 50 jobs to the city.

If given the go-ahead, it could be the first arrival on the 115-acre Derby Commercial Park – now being built off Raynesway.

Similar to a plant proposed for Sinfin, it would turn commercial and industrial waste into energy by a process known as gasification. Waste which cannot be recycled is heat-treated, causing it to smoulder at lower temperatures than in an incinerator, producing fewer emissions.

Cyclamax has submitted a planning application to Derby City Council, which has already received two objections.

The firm, based in Monmouth, is holding a public exhibition so people in the area can view the plans. It takes place at Pride Park Stadium on July 10, from 11.30am to 8pm.

A spokesman for Cyclamax said: "Cyclamax wants to ensure all interested members of the public get a chance to look at the proposals first-hand."

The plant would deal with 100,000 tons of industrial waste per year, recycling some and putting the rest into the gasification plant.

Cyclamax say it would produce enough renewable, low-carbon energy to power and heat more than two million square feet of factories and offices – equivalent to 19,300 Derby homes.

The company said the plant would bring wages totalling £1.25m a year into the city economy and would have the capacity to offset carbon emissions equivalent to taking 27,000 cars off the road.

The plant would take up 16 acres of brownfield land and work has already begun on a £20m road link.

Chris Skrytek, from the Derby branch of campaign group Friends of the Earth, said she feared the plant would have a damaging impact on the environment.

She said: "The land they want to build that plant on is part of a flood plain for the River Derwent and, if it floods, there will be no land to soak up the water."

The planning application can be viewed at www.derby.gov.uk