An energy from waste facility that will make a vital contribution to the UK’s energy resilience has been given the go-ahead after the Secretary of State for Energy and Net Zero approved plans submitted by Alternative Use Boston Projects Ltd.

The Boston Alternative Energy Facility will comprise a 102MW renewable energy plant that will power over 206,000 homes and will be sited on the banks of The Haven in Boston, Lincolnshire.

The plant is set to lead the way in land-based renewable power across the UK, diverting more than one million tonnes of waste from landfill, so that the UK benefits from the generated energy in a secure, clean, and affordable way.

Power will be generated through an efficient process that turns Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) into energy. 

The fuel consists of non-recycled household waste which is pre-processed to remove any recyclates. 

Non-recyclable waste is burned which leads to steam, and this powers a turbine to generate electricity.

Once in operation the facility will generate 102MW of renewable energy, of which 80MW will be exported to the National Grid, powering over 206,000 homes, equivalent to over 66% of the households in Lincolnshire. 

It is also expected to create around 80 jobs once operational.

Achieving consent is the culmination of over five years work by Alternative Use Boston Projects Ltd working alongside a multidisciplinary team including environmental consultants Royal HaskoningDHV, communications consultants Athene Communications, law firm BDB Pitmans and planning consultants Lichfields.

Dr Matthew Hunt, Director of Environment at Royal HaskoningDHV, said: “Partnership working with an experienced and expert team has been key to achieving this positive result. 

"Today’s announcement marks a major milestone in bringing this state-of-the-art facility to fruition, and we look forward to seeing the project move forward”.

BDB Pitmans, a Top 100 UK law firm, advised Alternative Use Boston Projects Limited (AUBP) on the Development Consent Order (‘DCO’) for the plant. 

The firm's DCO application involved the careful consideration of numerous factors potentially affected by the development, such as air quality and emissions, the ecology of the local area, and the socio-economic state of the area. 

Richard Marsh, partner and head of energy at Pitmans, was assisted by Sophie Reece, Rahil Haq, Jess Hobbs, Aranya Tharumakunarajah, Pam Thompson and Shehana Asirwatham.

He said the planning approval for the project was "another task ticked off" on the road towards the first operation of a truly exemplar energy-from-waste facility. 

"It  will generate sufficient green energy to power circa 200,000 homes, provide numerous environmental benefits such as diverting more than a million tonnes of waste per year from landfill and utilising water transport rather than road, and it will also provide a huge socio-economic boost to the town of Boston and far beyond,” said Marsh.

“The approval is a vote of confidence on the numerous benefits that innovative renewable energy projects confer across the country, and an acknowledgment of the important contribution that this project will make to the UK’s energy security and our target of Net Zero by 2050.”

BDB Pitmans’ Infrastructure Planning team has advised on more than 40 DCO projects and specialises in every sector that the regime covers, from solar, waste, hydrogen and electricity connection projects to road, airport and port schemes. 

With this latest approval it retains its record of having 100% success in securing DCOs for its clients’ projects.