A Boroughbridge company plans to build a heat and power plant to produce “greener” and “cost-effective” energy at its headquarters.
Reed Boardall, which stores and delivers frozen food to UK supermarkets, employs 800 staff at its site off Bar Lane and operates a fleet of 196 vehicles 24 hours a day.
The company has submitted plans for a combined heat and power plant, which would be built on its site and generate electricity.
According to documents lodged with Harrogate Borough Council, the plant would work by “igniting air and natural gas to produce hot, high-pressure gases”.
The gas would then be fed through a turbine to drive an electrical generator and produce electricity.
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The company added that the energy would be used to power its headquarters in Boroughbridge. Any excess energy would be exported back to the local electricity network.
Greener alternative
Andrew Baldwin, managing director of Reed Boardall’s cold storage division, told the Stray Ferret:
“We’re investing in a new combined heat and power system as a way of protecting the energy needs of our business for the future.
“It is more cost-effective than buying power from the National Grid and is generally considered to be a greener alternative. We expect it to be fully operational by the end of the year.”
If approved, construction of the plant is expected to take place over three months.
Once up and running, the plant would run for 24 hours a day, seven days a week. However, it would be unmanned and operated remotely.
Harrogate Borough Council will make a decision on the proposal at a later date.
The plan follows a multi-million expansion of Reed Boardall’s Boroughbridge site.
In May, the company announced it had finished a 110,000 square foot expansion to one of its cold storage units at its 55-acre site in Boroughbridge, which will help it meet increased customer demand.