Meaford Energy Limited’s Development Consent Order (DCO) application for a new gas turbine power station has been accepted for examination by the Planning Inspectorate following a 24-day review.
The application will now process to the pre-examination stage. This will take around three months and will then be followed by the Planning Inspectorate’s formal examination.
Meaford Energy Ltd says Meaford Energy Centre represents a £300 million investment in the local economy and will use gas and steam to produce electricity flexibly and efficiently.
As well as generating electricity, the power station will:
- Provide 30 highly skilled permanent local jobs
- Create up to 800 construction jobs over three years
- Deliver the catalyst to progress the development of Meaford Business Park, creating further jobs in the area
- Reduce the area’s reliance on imported electricity and improve its energy security.
Rupert Wood, Director of Meaford Energy Limited, said: “The acceptance of our DCO application is a key milestone in the consenting process, and we are pleased to have reached it after two years of pre-application consultation and design development. We are now preparing for the examination stage.”
If MEL is granted a DCO, construction could begin in late 2017 with the Meaford Energy Centre in full operation by 2020.
The Planning Inspectorate is the government body responsible for receiving and examining DCO applications for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIP) such as the MEC.
1 comment
Mark Thomason
The Meaford energy website appears to be unavailable, do you know the current status of this?