Navitas granted permit for St Albans biomass plant

The Environment Agency has approved construction of an 86,000 tonne-a-year capacity waste wood biomass boiler for Navitas Environmental Limited at Appspond Lane in Hertfordshire.

Navitas submitted an application for an environmental permit to build and operate the 60 million plant in September 2013. The St Albans facility will burn waste wood only and generate 12MW of electricity for use on site and for export to the National Grid.

The development is proving controversial locally as it to be built on the former Wood Recycling Services site which suffered a major fire in November 2012. And, the local MP, Anne Main, has accused the new company of being linked to the former owners of the recycling business.

The Environment Agency confirms that storage of wood at the site will be limited to 2,500 tonnes at any one time for a maximum period of 20 days although this could be increased via written permission.

Navitas first applied for planning permission from St Albans city and district council to build the biomass plant in 2010, after it proposed that the facility would use wood waste leftover from chipping operations on the site.

A planning approval notice was granted by Hertfordshire county council in December last year, following a public consultation that received five responses.

Eco2

Despite earlier plans to construct the facility with the help of Germany-based company Standardkessel, the facility will now be built in conjunction with UK-based firm Eco2, a specialist developer of renewable energy projects in Europe. Work is due to begin in early 2015.

Commenting on the approval for the permit, Navitas director Andrew Beck said the plant had been thoroughly assessed and had met the Environment Agencys high standards.

He said: The biomass development will be a welcome improvement to the current site and will provide a long term sustainable outlet for waste wood, primarily from Hertfordshire, transforming it into ‘green’ electricity. The wood comes from other development and refurbishment projects and there is a considerable lack of recovery and recycling outlets in the UK. We intend to make this an example of best practice and make Hertfordshire a leading example for other county councils in the UK.

Mr Beck added: Over 150 people will be employed during the construction of the 60 million facility, and 30 new jobs will be created when its operating, plus a further 30 jobs created in the local supply chain. We will be working closely with the local community to provide details of the construction timetable and job vacancies as they occur.

WRSL

The decision follows the forced closure of Wood Recycling Services Ltds (WRSL) commercial composting and chip waste wood operations at the site in February 2013, after a fire destroyed 10,000 tonnes of stored recycled wood the previous November (see letsrecycle.com story).

WRSL, which had been running the site since 2008, was served enforcement notices to reduce the amount of wood waste on site between May and July 2012, and a suspension notice in September that year to stop accepting any further compost or wood waste. Following the fire, the firm entered liquidation and vacated the site in early July 2013.

But, during the public consultation Mrs Main, who is Conservative MP for St Albans, claimed there was a clear link between the new company and WRSL.

In a letter addressed to the Environment Agency, dated December 13 2013, Mrs Main stated: In regard to this new application, I passed documents to the Environment Agency earlier this week which show a clear link between directors in WRSL, the operators at the time of the fire, and Navitas Environmental Limited.

‘Judicious’

Mrs Main went on to argue that the regulator should be particularly judicious in granting any further permits on the site, following a series of cumulative errors that had led to the fire at Appspond.

In response, the Environment Agency insisted that Navitas is a separate legal entity and had formally confirmed that neither WRSL nor its directors were operationally involved with the company.

Earlier this month, Mrs Main said she was disappointed in the decision to grant Navitas permission for the site, and said she would meet with the Environment Agency to get assurances that the long history of mismanagement at the site would not be repeated.

A spokesman for the Environment Agency said: The Environment Agency is taking every precaution to ensure the site is run properly and safely. They only issue a permit if they are satisfied that sufficient control measures are in place to protect the local community and surrounding environment.