Our application to build a 40MW biomass plant on land adjacent to the A11 near Snetterton was approved by Breckland Council at a planning meeting on Monday 11th June 2012.
The Plant will burn biomass, primarily oilseed rape, cereal straw with a proportion miscanthus and wood chippings, to generate 40MW (Megawatt) of renewable electrical energy, enough energy to meet the annual electricity consumption of between 62,000 and 68,000 households. Snetterton Biomass Plant would cut emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) by more than 120,000 tonnes every year.
Building the Plant will result in a £9 million annual investment in the East Anglian agricultural economy from fuel supply contracts by sourcing all straw from within the region where possible. The Plant would also unlock Breckland Council’s plans to double the current 30ha of business and light industry at Snetterton Heath, helping to create between 500 and 1,500 jobs by 2021. This would include the further development of Snetterton Race Circuit, which is currently constrained by the lack of spare capacity in the existing electricity infrastructure, through providing a connection to the national electricity grid and a sustainable energy supply.
We would like to thank everyone who attended the public exhibition held in June 2011 and gave us their comments. The feedback received identified the main areas that the community were most interested in as highways and access, fuel and landscape and visual impact. For more information on these areas, please visit the Consultation Outcomes page and FAQs section of the website.
Employment is a key driver behind the project. It is expected Snetterton Biomass Plant will provide up to 36 permanent jobs when operational, plus a further 50 jobs in fuel transportation; and during construction an maximum of 250 people will be employed on site each day. Where possible, the plant will also use local companies for its contracts, such as for routine maintenance. The plant will also help generate the opportunity for the creation of many further jobs through the development of the Snetterton Heath employment area.
This project is an excellent opportunity to generate, secure, reliable and sustainable energy that will help us reduce our carbon footprint and tackle climate change whilst keeping the lights on for homes and businesses in East Anglia. Snetterton Biomass Plant would combine the capability to export both electricity and heat, making heat produced available to local businesses.
[1] Note: this calculation is as a result of generation only and is based on equivalent
CO2 emissions from a gas-fired power plant; these numbers would differ for coal as
a coal-fired plant would emit approximately 830g of CO2 per kwh compared to approximately
380g from a gas-fired plant.