LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Simec Atlantis Energy announced the start of the 28-day pre-application consultation for the Uskmouth Power Station conversion project on Friday, which it described as "a planning milestone".
The AIM-traded firm said the pre-application consultation would run from 1 June to 29 June.

Atlantis said it "welcomed" the Welsh government's recent amendment to planning legislation regarding pre-application consultation requirements during Covid-19 restrictions, which came into effect at midnight on 19 May.

Following that advice, the Uskmouth Conversion Project pre-application consultation would see a number of documents made available online, including its planning application, planning statement, design and access statement, non-technical summary, and the environmental Statement.

Atlantis said the documents would be available for review and comment by the public for 28 days from 1 June.

Following completion of the pre-application consultation, the consultation report would be submitted along with the full planning application to the local authority, Newport City Council, for determination.

The statutory timescale for environmental impact assessment planning application determination was 16 weeks, and thus the company expected that the city council would conclude the determination of the planning application by the fourth quarter.

"Atlantis has been developing the Uskmouth Conversion Project since June 2018 when the company acquired the project from SIMEC UK Energy Holdings," the board said in its statement.

"Since then the design of the project has evolved and been optimised in close consultation with the regulators and local stakeholders.

"The design evolution has sought to address potential environmental impacts and the following is a summary of the key changes that have been incorporated into the project design."

Atlantis said itself and its project partner SIMEC Subcoal Fuels would not progress the fuel pellet production plant previously considered for construction on land adjacent to the Uskmouth Power Station in Wales, removing the requirement to import raw waste feedstock into Newport, significantly reducing road traffic and transport impacts.

It said fuel pellet production plants were under development at alternative locations in England.

"It is proposed that fuel pellets will be transported to the Uskmouth project site via rail from these fuel production plants.

"Fuel delivery by rail replicates previous operational activity at the Uskmouth Power Station when it had been previously coal fired, contributing to a significant reduction in road transport."

At 0815 BST, shares in Simec Atlantis Energy were flat at 7.25p.

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