Government's U-turn on biomass could have impact on Southampton

A cap on subsidies available to new biomass plants has come into force this month, meaning only a limited number of proposed plants are certain of getting Government funding.

That means that the proposed £300million plant in Southampton could miss out on millions of pounds worth of Government funding – throwing the future of the plans into doubt.

Having previously supported subsidising new biomass plants, the Government has now introduced a subsidy cap for new power stations of 400MW across England and Wales.

The cap, which has been introduced by the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC), means that only new biomass stations registered before the 400MW cap is reached will definitely get subsidies.

Theoretically, that means that only four new 100MW plants could get Government subsidies.

The cap was originally going to be introduced in October, but DECC decided to bring it forward to July.

Southampton’s proposed 100MW plant could be one of those that gets a Government subsidy – but the policy change could now spark a scramble from energy firms to snap up the funding while it is available.

And with energy firm Helius’ formal plans for the site in Southampton’s docks yet to materialise, campaigners now say the company faces a race against time to gain the vital funding.

And the cap also casts doubt on potential plans for a second Helius biomass plant in Hampshire, along the M27 in Portsmouth.

The Daily Echo revealed last week that discussions are ongoing between the energy firm and the Ministry of Defence about building another plant at Portsmouth’s naval base.

Campaigners have battled against the proposals ever since they first surfaced in 2011.

Residents living near to the proposed site say the station would be a blot on the landscape, increase pollution and cause house prices to plummet.

Steven Galton, a member of the No Southampton Biomass campaign group, said: “This does seem to represent a change in Government policy which is good because that’s what we have been arguing for all along.

“The situation is looking a lot better than it did this time last year – I would say I’m cautiously optimistic.

“My gut feeling is that Helius have been delaying handing in an application because they want to see what the funding situation is and whether it will be financially viable.”

Freemantle councillor Jeremy Moulton said: “I’m still concerned because I’m not clear that there are 400MW worth of schemes in the pipeline, so that might mean Helius’ application might be part of those 400MW of subsidised plants.

“Generally though it’s good news that the Government is turning away from biomass because they are beginning to realise that huge-scale biomass production is not environmentally friendly – chopping down trees on the other side of the planet and then shipping them to burn does not strike me as very environmentally friendly.”

Helius declined to comment.