Development Management Report
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Committee and date Item South Planning Committee 7 3 December 2013 Public Development Management Report Responsible Officer: Tim Rogers email: tim.rogers@shropshire.gov.uk Tel: 01743 258773 Fax: 01743 252619 Summary of Application Application Number: 13/04014/MAW Parish : Woofferton Proposal : 500kW Anaerobic Digester (AD) Plant and Associated Infrastructure on Land off Park Lane, Woofferton Site Address : Land off Park Lane, Woofferton Applicant : Ludlow Bioenergy Ltd Case Officer : Graham French email : planningdmc@shropshire.gov.uk Recommendation:- Grant Permission subject to the conditions and legal obligation set out in Appendix 1. Contact: Tim Rogers (01743) 258773 Page 1 of 40 Land off Park Lane, South Planning Committee – 3 December 2013 Woofferton Statement of Compliance with Article 31 of the Town and Country Development Management Procedure Order 2012 The authority worked with the applicant in a positive and pro-active manner in order to seek solutions to problems arising in the processing of the planning application. This is in accordance with the advice of the Governments Chief Planning Officer to work with applicants in the context of the NPPF towards positive outcomes. The applicant sought and was provided with formal pre-application advice by the authority. Further information has since been submitted on noise, odour and vehicle movements in response to comments received during the planning consultation process. The submitted scheme, has allowed the identified planning issues raised by the proposals to be satisfactorily addressed, subject to the recommended planning conditions and legal agreement. REPORT 1.0 THE PROPOSAL 1.1 The applicant, Ludlow Bioenergy Ltd is proposing to establish an agricultural anaerobic digestion facility at the site which would use feedstock from a nearby poultry unit and from surrounding farmland. The AD unit would represent a vertical integration whereby the digestate produced can be utilised to fertilise the crops grown as feedstock for use in the digester. The AD plant would produce energy, heat and digestate (a nutrient rich soil improver). The feedstock used in the digesters would include ill include crops grown on the local farms such as maize, grass silage, and whole crop silage. 1.2 The AD system will digest approximately 9,500 – 10,000 tonnes of feedstock per annum, dependent on the feedstock mix used. This would equate to approximately 3,000 tonnes of broiler chicken manure and some 6500 tonnes of farm crops. All feedstock is proposed to be sourced from the poultry local unit at Comberton Farm and other nearby farm holdings. The AD process would produce a high quality nutrient rich digestate. The applicant states that the digestate would produce little or no odour and is preferable to spreading chicken manure directly without treatment. Any electricity not utilised locally would be fed into the National Grid. The heat produced by the plant would be used initially to maintain temperatures in the digester tank before potentially being used to heat other buildings in the locality. Heat would also be used to assist power a pasteurisation unit that would be used to pasteurise the digestate which can then be used as organic compost. The AD facility would be operated under the business name Ludlow Bioenergy Ltd. 1.2 The development would involve the following structures: • Digester Tank : The digester tank is 25 metres in diameter, with a nominal height of 7 metres and a height of 11.5 metres to the top of the gas holder dome. The digester would be set 1m into the ground reducing the height above ground level. The digester tank is where the enclosed AD process and biogas production takes place. • Digestate Tank : The digestate tank is 25 meters in diameter with a nominal height of 7.15 metres. The digestate tank is the end storage tank for the liquid digestate. • Buffer (Slurry) Tank : The buffer tank is 10 metres in diameter with a height of 7.26 metres and situated next to the digestate storage tank. Contact: Tim Rogers (01743) 258773 Page 2 of 40 Land off Park Lane, South Planning Committee – 3 December 2013 Woofferton • Feedstock Building : The building is 26 metres in length, 25 metres in width, and 9 metres to the ridge. This enclosed storage shed would harbour the poultry manure feedstock. • Feedstock Clamps : The feedstock clamps are 4 metres in height and consist of four clamps of 75m length and 50m in width. The clamps would provide storage for the energy crop feedstocks. • Solids Feeder : The solids feeder is loaded with and mixes the feedstock prior to delivery to the digester tank. It is contained within the storage shed. • Combined Heat and Power Unit (CHP) : Biogas would be utilised by the CHP unit to generate electricity and heat. • Transformer and substation : The transformer and substation would feed the renewable electricity produced directly to the local grid. • Separator and Fibre Clamp : The separator would separate the end-product digestate into solid and liquid form. The liquid form being transferred to the digestate end storage tank and the fibre falling to a storage clamp below. • Control Room : The AD plant would be monitored and operated from this central control room which is to be contained within the shed. • Surplus Gas Burner : During normal operations biogas would be consumed by the CHP gas engine. In the event of surplus biogas production or if the CHP is shut down (e.g. for maintenance) the biogas would diverted to the surplus gas burner for burning, to prevent an overpressure situation arising in the gas holder. This surplus gas burner would ensure no unburned gas is released to the atmosphere. • Weighbridge : The weighbridge would weigh produce in and out of the site. • Pasteuriser : Used to process the digestate so that it becomes a PAS110 accredited organic compost 1.3 The agricultural feedstock would be stored in the feedstock clamps to the east of the site with the poultry manure stored in the enclosed storage shed. The majority of the feedstock would transported onto the site via tractor and trailer and lorry. The AD plant would process around 25 to 30 tonnes of the above feedstocks per day. The exact tonnage used would depend on the feedstock mix. The feedstock would be delivered to the solids feeder via a JCB loader or similar handler. Once the load is deposited, the stationary feeder conveys the crop to the feed system where it would be pumped into the digester tank. The feed unit would operate intermittently for 24 hours a day, loading the digester automatically every hour. 1.4 The feedstock remains in the digester for a minimum of 50 days in order to allow the Anaerobic Digestion process to occur, during which time biogas generated as a product of the process is collected in the gas holder. The feedstock mixture is subjected to heat by a system of heat exchangers contained within the digester tank. A proportion of the biogas produced is re-circulated through the feedstock mixture in the digester via a series of nozzles mounted on the tank base in order to agitate the tank contents and thus promote biogas generation; this re-circulated biogas is then piped back to the gas holder. Biogas collected in the gas holder is piped to the CHP plant, which powers a generator to produce electricity. The AD plant is to be a 500 kWe system producing energy to be utilised at the site with the surplus exported to the National Grid. Energy production/usage, based on Ofgems assumption of typical household electricity usage (3300kWh per annum) the plant would export enough electricity to power around 1,000 - 1,200 local households. Some power would be Contact: Tim Rogers (01743) 258773 Page 3 of 40 Land off Park Lane, South Planning Committee – 3 December 2013 Woofferton used for the site. The electricity is transmitted directly into the National Grid via a high voltage connection. 1.5 The process would also produce approximately 0.6 MW of heat per hour; a proportion of this would be used in the process in order to maintain temperatures in the digester tank. An end-use for the substantial amount of surplus heat would be via pasteurisation and / or exporting the heat to Comberton Farm to further reduce the carbon footprint of the local area. Digested material is discharged from the digester tank and is pumped to the separator which separates the nutrient rich digestate into solid and liquid form. The solids from the separator fall onto a pad below the gantry or can be collected directly in a trailer. The liquid fraction of the digestate would be piped away to the digestate end storage tank. The odour-free digestate end product is to be stored on site prior to being used as a nutrient rich fertiliser on land farmed locally. The end digestate store has a more than sufficient 5 month storage capacity. 1.6 Landscaping Although the site is relatively remote from residential properties the proposals include a planting scheme to aid integration of the development with its rural setting. 1.7 Hours of Operation The AD process, once initiated, would carry on continuously for 24 hours a day. On site, the crops and manure would be moved to the stationary feeder by a mechanical loader once a day. This would be predominantly undertaken during daylight hours, in order to minimise light and noise pollution. 1.8 Traffic / access A new access is proposed onto the Park Lane at a point of good visibility. A proposed track would take traffic to the AD site and would be of an appropriate construction to accommo0date the anticipated traffic visiting the facility. The current average number of agricultural vehicle movements affecting the site each year is 1,060.