PLANS for the potential £200 million Centre of Renewable Energy Excellence at the former RNAD Blackbridge site have been revealed.

At a public consultation meeting held at Hazelbeach Community Mission Hall on Thursday, Egnedol Ltd’s Steve Whitehouse explained in detail the proposed plans for both the Blackbridge and Waterston sites, which will be submitted to the county council in February.

Planning officers from Pembrokeshire County Council were due to be conducting a site visit yesterday (Wednesday).

Mr Whitehouse explained: “Egnedol Ltd are at the cutting edge of green technology, and the Milford Haven project has been carefully designed to ensure that the environmental impact is positive and that the sustainability criteria are exemplary.

“The positioning of buildings at the two sites has been carefully considered, and every attempt has been made to work with the natural environment to make sure the visual impact is as minimal as possible.”

When questioned on where the money for the project was coming from, Mr Whitehouse said that Egnedol Ltd has funders from the Middle East, including Jordan.

The first phase of the development would see 49.9Mw being produced with an initial investment cost of £200 million and 450 jobs being created.

These jobs come from the power generating facility, along with what Egnedol Ltd are calling ‘downstream’ businesses, which include prawn production, fish production, cheese production, algae production and mushroom production.

Mr Whitehouse added: “The plan is to increase the total electricity output to 350MW.”

Hubberston county councillor Viv Stoddart said: “For a company promising to invest over £685m in the Blackbridge/Waterston site, and create hundreds of jobs, Thursday’s presentation by Egnedol was low key.

“The presentation illustrated Egnedol’s stated wish to engage with local residents.

"They say they will use the feedback from the exercise to address any issues and concerns voiced by the community.

“Asked about the nature of the biomass which will be converted to clean biogas, 50% will come from fast growing trees, to be sourced from estates in Morocco and Greece.

“Egnedol stated it already has options on these Mediterranean plantations.

“The additional 50% will come from waste wood.”

Milford Haven Town and County Councillor Guy Woodham said: “I remain of the opinion that open and transparent two way dialogue between Egnedol and local residents is paramount and I reiterated this on Thursday.

“I also raised concerns around noise and other potential pollution and was assured these concerns would be addressed.

"I am also keen to see Pembrokeshire County Council ensure that an adequate road infrastructure is in place to manage the increase in traffic flow that this development promises to bring and I will take this forward directly with officers of the County Council.

“Finally, in order to allow those who may have had difficulty in attending the exhibition I have also asked Egnedol to consider holding another public exhibition this time in central Milford Haven. They have agreed to give this favourable consideration.”

Egnedol is due to address Milford Haven Town Council before its next meeting on Monday, January 25, at the town hall, at 6pm.

Members of the public are welcome to attend, although will not be able to ask questions.