A Workington factory wants to be able to create its own power.
Iggesund Paperboard in Siddick, near Workington, has applied for permission to create an anaerobic digestion plant.
The plant would use effluent water from the site’s pulp mill and would be stored in a tank where chemicals and nutrients would be added.
During the process, the biogas generated is cleaned through scrubbing and then processed through a buffer and burned in a boiler to create steam for the mill operations.
The plans will be discussed by members of Cumberland Council’s planning committee next week.
The site is on vacant, but previously developed, land to the east of the Holmen Iggesund site, directly to the north of the recently approved wastewater treatment plant.
Organisations including the Environment Agency, as well as Cumbria Fire Officer, have said they have no objections to the proposals.
A total of 55 notification letters were sent to nearby properties, just one letter of objection has been received which raised concerns over potential odours and the filtering of gases at the plant.
Officers considered that the scale of the proposed development would be expected to be similar to the size of the settlement and reflect its position in the settlement hierarchy.
The report states: “The proposed development is an industrial facility wholly located within an existing industrial site to the north of the principal town of Workington.
“Officers, therefore, consider that there is no conflict with the spatial strategy and the principle of development is acceptable.”
In their assessment officers considered that the proposed plant was functional in its design and appearance, being an industrial apparatus within the existing paperboard operations.
It would be around 17 metres at its highest point and cover an area of 1,600 square metres – existing buildings within the site are substantially higher than the proposed development with the largest building measuring around 40 metres high.
Regarding odour an assessment has concluded that its effect is predicted to be either slightly adverse or negligible.
The report said: “This is considered to be not significant and therefore no further odour mitigation is required for the proposed development.”
Tuesday’s meeting will be at the Civic Centre in Carlisle at 10.30am.
