CAMPAIGNERS have declared that a green energy plant on Portland would ‘lead to the destruction of rainforests'.

But applicant W4B Renewable Energy Ltd boss has hit back with a pledge that every year a public report will prove its power sources are sustainable.

It follows the re-submitted application by W4B to build a multi-million-pound energy plant at Portland Port on the edge of Balaclava Bay.

The £35million complex would use vegetable oils to generate electricity with the aim of contributing towards tackling climate change.

Revised plans will go before Weymouth and Portland Borough Council’s planning and traffic committee on January 6.

Campaigners from East Dorset Friends of the Earth are ‘actively opposed’ to the proposed Portland Energy Plant because of ‘general concerns regarding the use of palm oil and other vegetable oils for power generation'.

They say ‘palm oil is the most significant cause of rainforest loss in Malaysia and Indonesia’ and there is ‘serious concern that the use of biofuel from palm oil will actually increase greenhouse gas emissions rather than reduce them’ because of deforestation’. Angela Pooley, spokesman for East Dorset Friends of the Earth said the carbon assessment recently submitted by W4B – conducted by RPS Planning & Development Ltd – ‘fails to account for significant greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the use of palm oil in the proposed power station'.

But W4B managing director Richard Gudgeon has dismissed the fears as ‘absolutely not the case'.

He said: “We’re absolutely committed to sourcing palm stearin – the industrial by- product of palm oil – that’s not grown on land that’s being deforested, affecting orang-utans or displacing local villagers.

“We share the same concerns with the local Friends of the Earth and we’re trying to be transparent.

“Because we’re generating electricity we have to, by law, provide Ofgen with a sustainability report every year.

“This will be publicly available and has to show every single delivery of oil, where it’s from and where it was sourced with sustainability criteria.”

Mr Gudgeon said the power plant would also be using jatropha, which did not grow in the rainforest and they were looking to use algae developed in saltwater.

He added that their carbon assessment had shown ‘a carbon reduction minimum of 24,000 tonnes every year, year after year’ – the equivalent of the annual emission of 9,000 cars.

Supporters of the scheme, including Portland Port, have pointed out that it would generate more than 20 jobs and provide contract work for businesses.

The revised planning application, reference 09/00646/FULES can be found at the website www.weymouth.gov.uk