Fresher meadows

Power and gas company E.ON UK has put forward a scoping statement to build a £60m, 25 megawatt biomass power station at Blackburn Meadows, Sheffield.

The plant would produce enough energy to power 40,000 homes by burning a combination of recycled wood and specially grown crops such as willow and elephant grass. The statement also outlined the potential environmental impact of the new development.

According to E.ON UK, the plant would create 20 full-time jobs.

E.ON UK project developer Dr Nilton Chan said: ‘We're looking to breathe life back into the redundant Blackburn Meadows site and believe that a biomass development is a great opportunity to make a contribution to the Yorkshire and Humber Region's target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20% by 2010.’

‘We’re also expecting there to be a number of benefits to the local community in terms of new jobs and investment in the area.’

If the project is approved, after a formal planning application to be submitted later this year, construction of the plant is expected to start in 2009, with the first power being produced in 2011.