THE future of a North Yorkshire power station and up to 750 jobs have been secured after plans for a new development were given the go-ahead.

Selby District Council has cleared the way for the owners of Eggborough Power Station to build a new plant which could allow the site to generate more renewable energy, with the scheme expected to create 450 construction roles.

Eggborough Power Station Ltd (EPL) had warned that without the “significant investment” in the project, the station would fall short of laws on industrial emissions and be forced to “slowly wind down to closure”. But the biomass plant – which would burn raw materials alongside coal – will ensure it can continue operating until at least 2027 and safeguard hundreds of “direct and indirect jobs”.

The new facilities will not mean the boundaries of the existing power station having to be expanded. Planning agents for the scheme say it would not harm the appearance of the area and a nearby heritage site, with the storage domes being less than half the size of the Eggborough cooling towers.

Yorkshire Wildlife Trust had raised some concerns about the environmental impact of the project, saying the power station’s owners needed to clarify which biomass materials would be burnt to avoid “harmful pollutants” and Eggborough’s age meant its efficiency levels should be investigated to make sure “vital resources are not wasted”.

A report by council planning officer Yvonne Naylor said the new plant was likely to have up to 267 deliveries a day, but North Yorkshire County Council highways bosses were content with the scheme. She said: “The proposal is considered to be appropriate development in the countryside”.

EPL’s agents, Parsons Brinckerhoff and Dalton Warner Davis, said the plant would cover a 50,000-metre area and an increase in biomass co-firing was “vital in ensuring the continuity of electricity supply”. They also said the new construction jobs would “add further economic activity to Selby and the region”.