The proposed plant has capacity to potentially take waste from Manchester, Merseyside, Halton, Cheshire and Warrington, which would otherwise have gone to landfill.

The decision by Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks allows INEOS Chlor to construct an energy from waste combined heat and power (CHP) station with a capacity of 100 MW, at Runcorn. He has also given deemed planning permission for the development.

The usable heat and electricity produced from the power station will be utilised at the INEOS Runcorn Site, a major chemicals manufacturing complex and one of the largest energy users in the UK.

Malcolm Wicks said:
"It's important that we move forward in tackling the UK's waste problem. The proposed plant will make use of local waste for the production of energy rather than contributing to the UK's landfill."