Agenda item

A presentation by Mr Gary Bower – Project Manager

The Chairman introduced Mr Gary Bower and Miss Bethan Griffiths from Boston Alternative Energy Facility and welcomed them.

Mr Bower presented a very comprehensive update supported by a detailed powerpoint presentation.  The following minute highlights key points of information:

Three rounds of public consultation had taken place in September 2018, February 2019 and in June/July 2019.  The proposed development would be a 102MWe Energy from Waste (EfW) advanced gasification facility. It would operate via an import/export wharf, providing waste reception and storage export of lightweight aggregates.  The proposed development site is 25 ha of land, allocated in the Lincolnshire Minerals and Waste Local Plan, as suitable for works on the banks of The Haven.  Both delivery of the refuse derived fuel and the export of the lightweight aggregate is by ship.

The refuse derived fuel (residual household waste) would be plastic wrapped in 1.8cbm bales weighing 1.5 tonnes with 620 shipments per year.  It would all be UK collected waste with nothing from overseas with off-loading at the site by mobile crane at one of the three berthing points.

Waste would be stored for no longer than 5 days before being shredded to allow non suitable items for the gasification process to be removed.   Recyclable products such as glass and metal are captured and sent for recycling locally.   The shredded feedstock is then transferred via a sealed conveyor to store in silos before gasification and conversion into approximately 80 MW of power being exported to the National Grid.  Ash from the process is recycled into aggregates for the construction industry which would be exported via ship.

Members were advised that the build would be in line with the best technology available to operate efficiently and safely with strict European emission standards.  Liaison with the Port of Boston was ongoing in respect of the turning of the ships which would be either at the knuckle point or within the dock itself.

Addressing the overall benefits Mr Bower confirmed that, the recovered energy from 1 million tonnes of RDF would generate power to more than 206,000 homes.  It would also reduce the 3.5 million tonnes of waste currently exported and processed abroad.

With the UK benefitting from generating its own renewable energy, it would allow the UK to meet UK renewable energy targets.  The initial construction phase would create approximately 300 jobs, and 80 permanent jobs once operational. It would bring new skills to the town with the developer engaging with the college in respect of apprenticeships.   The facility would also allow local investment opportunities with potential exporting of Co2 which was a desirable commodity.  It also had capacity within its tolerance level of 1.3 million tonnes, to take the 50,000 tonnes of residual waste for South Lincolnshire which was currently transported via road to the EFW at North Hykeham.

Highway impacts would be experienced due to the large volume of cement needed.  Local batching was being considered which would significantly reduce the number of deliveries.  The developer was committed to the mitigation measures stipulated within the Construction Traffic Management Plan.   There would be off-site traffic noise impact assessments.

Addressing operational noise members were told that the air-cooled condenser located at the south-west of the site was the dominant noise source and the developer would work with the technology provider to alter the design to include attenuation measures to reduce the noise.

Any impact on air quality during construction was predicted to be negligible.  The contributions of benzo(a)pyrene produced by the facility would be below the required environmental assessment levels but with background contributions, there was a predicted exceedance.

There was a predicted exceedance of the 24-hour Oxides of Nitrogen and Hydrogen Fluoride levels at Havenside Local Nature Reserve at the closest point to the facility and action would be taken to mitigate them.

Concluding Mr Bower explained that a Development Consent Order would be drafted, the Environmental Statement completed and then the application submitted to the Planning Inspectorate.  Thereafter if it was accepted, the examining phase would take place, ahead of the application being submitted to the Secretary of State. 

Mr Bower responded to members questions as follows:

• The site would be the joint largest in the UK once constructed and the tallest stack would stand 73 metres tall.  Boston Stump is 83m.
• Once the power was sold on from the site it was for the distributer to determine where it went for usage.  The provider had no authority in the distribution of the power.
• The number of ships per annum visiting the site would be 620:  11 ships per week delivering the RDF and 2 exporting the aggregates.
• The facility would be sealed.  Levels of all emissions would be continually monitored and the facility would be built with the technology to allow it to shut itself down, should it need to.
• The initial construction of the silos which were 4000 tonnes each would be a 24 hour a day operation. 
• The need to use plastic to bind the bales was to ensure secure and strong wrapping and also restrain odour.  Once the bales were opened, all the wrapping is then put back into the recycling process at the facility ensuring no residual plastic waste.
• There were 2 forms of piling available but the specifics were not known:  one was via hammer driving and the second via a vibration method.  Agreement on which form would be used had not been finalised.
• No discussions had been held with Lincolnshire County Council in respect of the possibility of the facility receiving the residual waste from the Slippery Gowt facility in Boston.  The Development Consent Order was a legal document which when agreed would then allow any negotiations to take place in respect of the transfer site.
• Where possible local companies would be contracted to provide training for specialist skills for both the manufacturing phase and the operational activity of the facility.

The chairman invited questions from the floor which Mr Bower answered.