Energy plant planned for Lostock

Brunner Mond has announced plans to build a sustainable energy plant on the site of a disused power station at Lostock.

A joint venture with energy group E.ON, it will be powered by a non-hazardous, solid fuel made from pre-treated waste that would otherwise go to landfill.

John Kerrigan, managing director, said: “We hope to do this by building a highly efficient energy plant that will produce around a third of our business's heat energy from a renewable and sustainable fuel.

"The development of this proposed facility demonstrates Brunner Mond's commitment to maintaining the longer term competitiveness of our business and our ability to continue to contribute to the local economy.

The plant will use approximately 600,000 tonnes of fuel per year to produce up to 60MW of electricity and around 100 tonnes per hour of steam. This is equivalent to the energy needs of 45,000 homes.