RPS Helps Secure Permission for Kelda’s Yorkshire AD Facility

The new facility will be based at Knostrop WWTW complex in Leeds and will contribute towards the company’s vision of running half of their sewerage treatment operations using renewable energy. In combination with a permitted wind turbine, the new facility is set to ensure a notable reduction in the client’s reliance on the National Grid while increasing the plant’s energy security for the future.

The proposed AD facility will process up to 48,000 tpa of organic waste sourced from the local area. Total outputs include 2.4MW of electrical energy, 46,555 tpa of liquid digestate and 1,940 tpa of solid digestate. Heat and electricity produced by the facility will be used to power the sewerage treatment operations, whilst the digestate produced will be used as a fertiliser in local agriculture.

RPS provided a multidisciplinary service supporting the planning application, working closely with Leeds City Council through a series of pre-application consultation meetings to finalise the best approach to the planning application and necessary supporting assessments, including subsequent production by us of detailed technical reports to inform the application including:

• Landscape and visual impact assessment;
• Transport assessment;
• Phase 1 ecological survey;
• Desk based archaeological assessment;
• Flood risk assessment;
• Noise assessment;
• Air quality assessment.

These completed reports served to demonstrate considerations and measures taken to ensure the proposed facility would have minimal significant impact on the site and its surroundings.

Kelda Water Services is a leading water and waste water contract operations company, delivering large scale and long term infrastructure solutions throughout the UK and Ireland.