Greens object to Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station replacement plans

12 September 2020

Nottingham Green Party have submitted an official objection to the proposal to convert the existing Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station, which burns coal, into a waste incinerator.

The main reasons for the objection are:

Uniper estimates that the incinerator will work at an electrical efficiency of 26.1% (that is, just 26.1% of the energy in the waste will be exported as electricity) – worse than the efficiency of UK coal-fired power stations which is currently around 32%.
Uniper’s proposal does not adequately consider the implications of the EU Circular Economy Package or the Defra policy statement in support dated 30 July 2020, committing to reach zero waste by 2050.
Uniper has failed to demonstrate a need for extra incineration capacity, and have seriously overstated the quantity of residual waste and understated incineration capacity in the surrounding area.
The proposed site is not near to urban areas where most waste is created, and so will promote unnecessary transport of waste into the Green Belt.
It will generate large quantities of CO2 (around 450,000 tonnes per year) with no realistic proposal to become carbon neutral.

An image of the towers of the Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station, billowing smoke and steam into the sky

Click to enlarge

Guy Jones, Chair of the Nottingham Green Party, said,

"This proposal is an example of the insanity that prevails when business pays lip service to environmental issues.

"Not only is incinerating waste not a form of recycling. It causes damage to the environment directly. Much of the waste that will be burnt at the plant is plastic. Plastic is made from fossil fuels. This incinerator will be nothing more than a fossil fuel power station just like the plant it is replacing.

"The solution to waste is to reduce, reuse and recycle. Burning it to create energy will simple justify the continued production of the waste in the first place.

"The solution to the energy problem is to reduce the need and massively increase production from environmentally sensitive and sustainable sources.

"Ratcliffe on Soar Power Station should be converted to a Green Energy Centre, providing environmentally low impact and sustainable power to people and business in the local area."

Click here to sign the petition against the EMERGE Centre on Change.org: https://www.change.org/p/nottinghamshire-county-council-no-to-the-ratcliffe-on-soar-incinerator