Protos biomass facility Peel NRE

Regeneration business Peel L&P – who’re speaking at the Sustainable Energy in Development Conference – has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the UK to achieve a green post-pandemic recovery with the launch of a new division and a strengthened focus on its natural resources and energy development activity.

Peel NRE launches today (Wednesday, 20 January) and brings together the skills of the already well-established Peel Energy, Peel Environmental and Peel Water teams to help drive the nation’s clean growth agenda, support a circular economy and help achieve regional climate emergency targets. [emaillocker id=”71749″]

Peel NRE builds on Peel L&P’s 20 years’ experience of delivering successful energy projects with plans to secure 300MW of additional renewable energy through wind and solar over the next five years including taking forward proposals for its Beaw Field and Mossy Hill wind farms on the Shetland Islands.

Its flagship 54-hectare Protos resource and energy hub in Cheshire is developing a cluster of low carbon energy generation, supporting industry through local networks as well being at the heart of the Net Zero North West industrial decarbonisation cluster.

Protos will also be the home of pioneering technology to maximise the recycling and reuse of plastic.  An important part of this will be the UK’s first plastic-to-hydrogen facility using technology provided by Powerhouse Energy.  With plans to develop more facilities like this across the country which lead to the delivery of around 154 tonnes of sustainable hydrogen production per day – the equivalent of being able to power 396,600 cars or 12,320 articulated HGVs per day.

Last month, Protos also celebrated the start on site of Covanta Energy’s 49MW Energy Recovery Facility that will generate low carbon electricity from up to 400,000 tonnes of non-recyclable waste.

Peel NRE will continue to grow its low carbon district heating portfolio lead by its Ener-Vate business and with its Mersey Heat energy service company already developing a network to service up to 9,000 homes and 4m sq ft of commercial space at Peel L&P’s Liverpool Waters.

To help provide the infrastructure needed to meet the Government’s target to remove petrol and diesel cars from the country’s roads by 2030, Peel NRE is exploring opportunities to develop a nationally significant rapid electric vehicle charging network.

The further development of its construction waste recycling business was strengthened with planning permission granted for its Port Salford soil washing plant last month. This will enable soils and excavation materials to be recycled and reduce the amount of virgin materials used in Peel L&P’s own developments.

The business also manages 124km of waterways, most notably the Manchester Ship Canal, Bridgewater Canal, River Medway and provides access to more than 150,000,000m3 of water per year for drinking and industrial use.

Peel NRE’s specialisms are waste to value, district heating, renewable energy (onshore wind and solar), materials management including, soil washing and recycled aggregates, asset management including quarries, water, electric vehicle charging and Protos.

Myles Kitcher, who has headed up Peel L&P Environmental for the past 14 years will lead the new business as Executive Director of Peel NRE.

Myles said: “Recent events across the world have put even more emphasis on the need for us to look after our planet and find ways to help to tackle climate change and the Government’s recent Energy White Paper presents lots of change and opportunity ahead for the industry.

“Peel NRE is already underway on a number of projects to help drive forward the nation’s clean growth and a circular economy whereby we reuse and recycle as many products and materials for as long as possible.

“We have years of experience and can scale up our projects and partnership work to help the Government achieve a green industrial revolution and support local authorities to meet regional climate emergency targets.

“Bringing our specialisms together as one business harnesses our strengths and with this, I believe we can do more, drive better results and improve innovation across the sector and in the North at a time when it’s needed most.”

The launch of Peel NRE has also been backed by business and industry leaders across the region:

Emma Degg, Chief Executive of North West Business Leadership Team said:

“The drive to Net Zero will depend upon businesses, government and local policy makers all playing their part. Peel L&P has an established track record of turning vision into reality and Peel NRE is a valuable addition to the North West’s business landscape. We look forward to working with the new company to realise real change for our economy and local communities – both in terms of new jobs and opportunities and the environmental legacy future generations deserve.”

Ged Barlow, Executive Director at Net Zero North West: “This is a very welcome boost for our region as we look to position ourselves at the forefront of the UK’s green industrial revolution. As a founding member of Net Zero North West, Peel L&P is already playing an integral role in driving green tech innovation and clean growth, not least at Protos which is leading the way with a UK first plastic waste to hydrogen facility.

“The establishment of Peel NRE will support one of the North West’s business heavyweights to better harness the strength of its energy, environmental and water operations and develop a 360-degree strategy for tackling the decarbonisation challenge. This merger can be a major force in building the UK’s first low carbon industrial cluster right here in the North West.”

Professor Joe Howe, Executive Director of Thornton Energy Research Institute at The University of Chester and Chair of the North West Hydrogen Alliance said: “I’m really pleased to see this commitment to the green recovery through the creation of Peel NRE. Peel L&P has always been a strong supporter of the North West Hydrogen Alliance and the University. This new business will play an important role in helping us push forward the hydrogen economy. Bringing together experience from different parts of Peel L&P into Peel NRE will only serve to accelerate the hydrogen and net zero agenda.”

Peel NRE contributes to Peel L&P’s wider sustainability commitments and a five-year strategy published last year which is aligned to the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.

More information about Peel NRE.

And you can register for the Sustainable Energy in Development Conference here: https://www.built-environment-networking.com/event/sustainable-energy-in-development-conference/

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