ST. MODWEN AND GLENFINNAN JV GRANTED DEVELOPMENT CONSENT ORDER FOR 299MWe GAS-FIRED CCGT POWER STATION

Meaford Energy Limited, a 50/50 joint venture between St. Modwen Properties PLC, the UK’s leading regeneration specialist and Glenfinnan, a property investment company with expertise in infrastructure and energy projects, has secured a Development Consent Order (DCO) from the Rt. Hon. Greg Clark MP, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy for a £300m combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power station with a generating capacity of up to 299 MWe.

To be delivered on 14 acres of land currently owned by St. Modwen, the new power station, to be known as the Meaford Energy Centre (MEC), is a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project which secured a DCO after a rigorous three-year process involving public consultation and examination by the Planning Inspectorate on behalf of the Government.

A third of the UK’s electricity output is produced by facilities which are due to close over the coming 10 years, however to meet increasing demand for power over the next 20 years the Government predicts that an additional 50 GW of generating capacity is needed. CCGT power stations like the MEC use gas and steam to produce electricity flexibly and efficiently and together with wind farms, solar parks and nuclear power stations, form an important part of the new energy mix to deliver the capacity needed to provide security of power and meet the UK’s energy demands.

Daniel Chapman, Director of Meaford Energy Limited, said:

“To secure the DCO for this important national infrastructure project at Meaford is significant in terms of meeting the UK’s energy needs as set out in the National Energy Policy as coal-fired power stations come off line and the increasing uncertainty over the delivery of new nuclear power plants”.

Rupert Wood, Director of Meaford Energy Limited and Regional Director for St. Modwen, said:

“Just as importantly, the MEC will also deliver the catalyst to progress the development of St. Modwen’s Meaford Business Park which already benefits from a planning permission to deliver 1m sq ft of employment space.

“Furthermore, achieving this important milestone is further evidence of the joint venture partners’ deep expertise in successfully delivering highly complex planning consents. It also shows St. Modwen’s ability to identify innovative routes to market which create substantial long-term value for shareholders from our 6,000 acre land bank.

“We will now take time working with our joint venture partner, to consider our options as to how to best progress this long-term project”.

As well as generating electricity, the power station will:

• Provide 30 highly skilled permanent local jobs
• Create up to 800 construction jobs over three years
• Improve the area’s energy security, including providing an important source of energy to the planned Meaford Business Park.