§ Maria EagleTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he will announce his decision on British Sugar plc's application to build a new combined heat and power gas-fired power station. [71524]
§ Mr. BattleI have today granted consent under Section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 for a 70 MW gas-fired Combined Heat and Power station at the British Sugar factory in York. The station has also today been given planning permission and clearance (as a gas-fired station) under Section 14 of the Energy Act 1976. The decisions have been taken in accordance with the policy set out in the White Paper entitled "Conclusions of the Review of Energy Sources for Power Generation and Government response to fourth and fifth Reports of the Trade and Industry Committee" (Cm 4071).
The Government's recent White Paper set out a stricter consents policy towards applications for new gas-fired power stations but indicated that the Government's concerns might be outweighed by the environmental and other benefits of CHP. The Government are of the view that this project falls within the description of CHP identified in the White Paper and the granting of Section 36 consent is consistent with the policy set out in it.