Energy from waste plant at Port Elphinstone gets the 'green' light from Aberdeenshire Council
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A new energy from wast facility on the former Inverurie Paper Mill site at Kirkwood Commercial Park has been given the green light by Aberdeenshire Council
At a meeting of full council, councillors were asked to make a decision on the major application which will bring forward one of the largest industrial developments in many year's to the Garioch area.
Views were very much split across the online meeting, with applicant Alf Robertson from Agile Energy addressing members to discuss several issues which had been raised, both at previous consultations and the recent meeting of the Garioch area committee where overall recommendations were supportive of the planning aspect for the use of the site but concerns were raised on the environmental aspects.
The proposed large scale facility would be made up of 27 separate buildings and would also feature components and elements of plant and machinery including a receiving and shredding area, furnace, waste processing area and fuel silos.
Speaking to councillors, Mr Robertson said: "SEPA are equally as passionate about us doing this site responsibly as we are, together this will be a world class site and Aberdeenshire will be seen as a world leader in this method of waste conversion.
"The facility will be more efficient than any other like this in the UK.
"Building the plant itself will create around 300 construction jobs and in turn created a further 45 for its operation, the business rates alone to Aberdeenshire Council would be in the order of £1m.
"Energy faclities of this type already have a positive association with recycling and figures show that without plants, landfill is higher.
Considerable queries were raised over the emissions from the plant and the lack at present of any scheme associated with the heat production and the actual baseline efficiency of the syste,
Councillor Martin Ford raised the issue of planners being unable to condition the heat element, yet they could the electrical generation: "How can we be in a position to ask them to only do what they were going to do anyway?"
Planning chief Paul Macari replied: "I can understand the confusion.
"It is not reasonable to condition a heat network as it needs infrastructure and receptacle sites in place and at this stage, we already have condition in place for grid condition to generate electricty, the heat is a by-product, at this stage it would be our professional advice that to condition this would be seen as unreasonable.
Mr Roberston said: "It is a requirement to use heat to a network if feasible.
"That is our intention but not part of this plan.
"The plant is designed to be heat network ready for a variety of technologies - all of the deliveries are catered for within the design of the plant.
"We have an electricity agreement in place with the grid and SSE and an application is coming for connection via underground cable to the sub-station at Kintore.
On carbon capture he continued: "We have looked at a number of technologies, the best way is to use the carbon to make a product rather than to sequester it.
"Our plans are to capture CO2 and use as product.
"We are working with Aberdeen University on a test scale proving of technology to produce chalk or gypsum for pharmaceutical grade use.
He stressed the point that the site at Port Elphinstone is an existing brownfield site and which "stood out as minimal for transport and already had been sitting unused for years, our plans for using heat are many.
"We have had discussions with adjacent farmers for use in greenhouses to provide heat and CO2 for plants.
"We area even looking at breeding prawns, supplying energy to Thainstone mart and homes at Crichie, but nothing is possible without the plant itself."
A motion was brought forward by councillor Paul Johnston to refuse the application.
He said: "Our job here is to weigh this up on planning terms.
"We note that issues such as emissions are rigidly process dealt with by permit and by SEPA, on that basis many aspects area controlled by them and it is not the purpose of planning to double guess them but one emission not covered, that is carbon emissions."
Fellow Councillor Martin Ford added;: " Clearly there are also some local planning issues this is an enormous building and from some locations will be prominent all be it with an imaginative way of being mitigated.
"My concerns are also at high level and echo points made already, the applicant has put before us suggestions, which taken together were all to happy accept would indeed be positive environmentally but they are might happens and we cant know that they are going to happen and without them, we have to ask if acceptable and i don't think it is.
"Different commitments have been made at national levels at different time and are not always compatible with each other.
"It also poses a massive regulatory risk for the applicant - we may be doing them a favour.
"A refusal which would inevitably lead to an appeal would see it compared to national policy.
"A grant is irrevocable, a refusal is not the end of the road as it will place this before a reporter for the Scottish Government to consider."
In favour of the plan, councillor Jim Gifford said: "I am supportive of this, we have heard answers to all the questions and it is a tremendous opportunity.to take forward a change as part of energy transition in the north-east.
A motion to refuse the plan was outvoted by 40 votes to 21 in favour of the application.
Commenting on the Councils approval, Alf Robertson, Managing Director at Agile Energy said:
‘’We are delighted with the decision taken by Aberdeenshire Council.
" The approval of our planning application to develop the £200million Energy Recovery Facility allows us to proceed with the first phase of our vision to develop Thainstone Energy Park, a world-leading, low carbon energy development.
"The decision also provides a great opportunity to utilise proven leading edge technology, create new business and employment opportunities and collaborate with our partners to expand the reach and benefit that the facility will deliver to the community in Aberdeenshire.
"We are sure that this energy recovery facility will play an important role in helping to address the Scottish Government’s forthcoming ban on the landfilling of biodegradable waste and in meeting the ambitious targets set by Scottish ministers for development of heat networks.”
‘’We look forward to continuing our work with our partners, investors, Aberdeenshire Council, the Community Councils and all those with an interest in the proposals as we move to the next phase of development.’’
