THE company at the centre of an application to secure a permit to operate a gasification plant in Barry, has again sought to address concerns.

Biomass UK No.2 Ltd this week answered more questions ahead of Natural Resources Wales (NRW)’s first public consultation deadline on Monday.

The company has applied to NRW for a permit to operate the £50 million Woodham Road plant.

The company said the project was on track to complete construction in August before commissioning begins during the autumn.

Addressing fears for a third time, a project spokesman referred to the use of the word ‘incinerator’.

He said: “An incinerator is a facility whose primary purpose is to dispose of waste by combustion. The primary purpose of the project at Barry is not to dispose of waste but to generate electricity by the gasification of waste wood. Gasification is considered by the government to be a very efficient method of energy recovery and it is categorised by OFGEM as “advanced conversion technology”. For environmental permitting purposes, the plant’s overall efficiency is far greater than the thresholds set by NRW and it will therefore be permitted as an energy facility.

“The project produced an environmental statement as part of its planning submission in 2015, as required by applicable law. This was accompanied by detailed environmental, ecological, contamination and air emissions reports. These were accepted by the planning authority as being sufficient for them to discharge their planning obligations and the Welsh Government confirmed the planning authority were within their powers to do so. The period for applying for a judicial review of their planning decision expired in 2015 without any challenge to the legitimacy of the planning consent.”

He said the company would engage with the community.

“Projects managed by Aviva typically have an annual allocation of funding to be spent within the local community, for example on local charitable initiatives,” he said. “It is expected that this will be the case for the Biomass UK No. 2 and that suitable recipients will be discussed with local council representatives in the first instance.

“Biomass UK No. 2 Limited is happy to consider constructive requests from members of the public.”

He said views could be communicated by local councillors and senior politicians.