£36m Sheffield sustainable industries project forges on

Plans for a £36m sustainable industries park in Sheffield are driving ahead after a £10m food waste power station was approved.
Beeley Wood Recycling Village set for redevelopmentBeeley Wood Recycling Village set for redevelopment
Beeley Wood Recycling Village set for redevelopment

Beeley Wood Biogas Ltd has been granted permission for an ‘anaerobic digestion’ plant which makes gas from rotting food on a site off Claywheels Lane.

The scheme is set to start in the new year if the firm is successful in bidding for a subsidy from government.

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The move comes after a company already on the 37-acre brownfield site near Wadsley Bridge, Ballast Phoenix, successfully applied to expand operations.

The firm takes waste from the Veolia incinerator at Bernard Road, removes the metals and sells them, while the ash is used as in cement for construction and road surfacing.

Meanwhile, a £931,000 grant to install services, improve access and clean up the plot is said to be “imminent.”

Last month, Abbey Forged Products was granted permission for a £14m new press building on an adjacent plot. The anaerobic digestion plant could supply it with gas.

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Beeley Wood Sustainable Industries Park is being developed by AMG Investments. Much of the site has been derelict for about 20 years.

Agent Mark Leivers said the three planning applications and the ‘in principle’ grant gave the project impetus.

He added: “We’re looking forward to pushing forward and developing the site in 2018. There are still 28-acres of available land.”

An earlier project, for a £10m biomass power station burning waste wood, has been dropped.

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But he hoped to sign other occupiers in the sustainable industries sector such as a battery storage project which could feed power back into the grid at times of peak demand.

A recycling company already on the site, Waste Recycling and Destruction, specialises in food and packaging recycling and will supply the digestion plant.

The site was last used by a firm which used bitumen and graphite to make electrodes for arc furnaces.

It moved out 20 years ago, although four tall chimneys remain.