01:30PM, Thursday 15 January 2015
A new power station for Slough with the potential to provide electricity for over 100,000 homes has been given the green light.
Plans to build the multifuel combined heat and power plant were approved by Slough Borough councillors following two years of work on the project by planning officers.
It will be capable of delivering heat and electricity to 110,000 homes - nearly double the number in Slough (60,000).
The plant will be built at the existing Slough Heat and Power Station site in Edinburgh Road, owned and managed by energy giant SSE, which is behind the project.
Construction work will see the demolition of an existing redundant plant and buildings on the site, which will be replaced by the new multifuel combined heat and power generating station.
The project is expected to take four years to complete and will generate 300 temporary construction jobs and an additional 20 new full-time roles.
Speaking at the planning meeting where the decision was made on Friday, January 9, Cllr James Swindlehurst, commissioner for neighbourhoods and renewal, said: "Apart from the fact it is a site of box-like engineering buildings, in that context it is hard to get excited, but actually I am quite excited by the proposals.
"What I like about it is the sheer volume of housing being supplied is bigger then the town as a whole which means we are self sufficient in energy terms."
More than 100 deliveries of low carbon waste derived fuels, such as commercial and industrial waste and waste wood, will be delivered to the new power station each day.
It will then be burned to create steam, which is used for electricity generation as well as supplying heat within the Slough Trading Estate.
Once up and running the plant would operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
A statement from SSE said it welcomed the council's decision and would now work on sorting Section 106 agreements.
It added: "We will now work to finalise these conditions in order to progress this exciting project to its next phase."
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