Southampton City Council Refuses to be Biomass Power Station Customer

At yesterday’s full Council meeting the Council debated two issues that relate to the proposed Helius Biomass Power Station.

Firstly the Council approved the Hampshire Waste and Minerals Plan. This is an important planning document which forms part of the Council's planning framework. Back in 2011 the draft plan was amended so that it ruled out very large developments in the Western Docks, such as the Helius Power Station. This change has been retained in the final plan and so this will be a powerful tool in fighting any application from Helius should one be submitted.

Secondly Councillors unanimously supported a motion committing the Council to never becoming a customer of Helius in the future. It has become clear in recent months that Helius would need to be able to sell heat generated by the power station. If it is unable to do this Helius is unlikely to get approval for their scheme. Whilst this does not mean Helius could not find a commercial purchaser of heat, it does rule out a key potential partner. The signal from the council is very clear - that Helius' scheme is not welcome.