A proposal for what will be one of UK’s largest biomass power plants has been given the go-ahead by energy minister Malcolm Wicks. The power plant is to be sited in Lincolnshire near Stallingborough and is a project headed by Helius Energy plc and is expected to cost £200m to build.

The facility will be capable of producing a maximum capacity of 65MW which would be enough power for 100,000 homes and will cut carbon emissions by 450,000 tonnes.

The assistance in achieving the UK’s ambitious renewable energy targets isn’t the only feature of the project. 267 full-time jobs are expected to be created during construction and a further 75 permanent full-time jobs while the plant is running.

To pour water over possible opposition to the plant on the grounds that the power plant uses timber sourced from overseas the company has also announced that the facility will be sourced on “sustainable biomass” with the plant to be fuelled by wasate wood, specially grown energy crops and leftover timber from nearby processing facilities.