THE BOSS of the company behind a renewable energy power station plan has announced that there are no plans to import food grade palm oil into Portland Port to fuel the plant.

It is the first time that W4B Renewable Energy Limited, the company behind the multi-million plant to be built at Balaclava Bay, has confirmed its intentions..

Protesters against the plant say palm oil exacerbates the destruction of forests in South East Asia.

The announcement comes ahead of a public meeting tomorrow night on Portland and a demonstration through Weymouth on May 1.

Chris Slack, the chairman of W4BRE, said: “From the work we have undertaken in the last few months on sourcing non-food vegetable oils for the plant, we believe we have identified sufficient volumes to satisfy the fuel needs of the Portland plant. “We plan to continue our membership of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil in order do everything we can to influence the development of stronger and more effective monitoring systems for all forms of vegetable oil.”

Campaigners from the No Palm Energy (NOPE) group are holding the meeting from 7.30pm at Easton Methodist Church hall in Easton Square.

Richard Gudgeon, managing director of W4B, is confirmed as one of the main speakers.

He said: “It’s important people understand this is not a reaction to a local pressure group – we’ve always said will use the most sustainable vegetable oils we can.”

Mr Gudgeon will also be announcing plans at the meeting to form a local steering group, which would include two or three places for local residents to ‘get involved and help shape’ what W4B do.

Other speakers will include national campaigner Robert Palgrave of Biofuel Watch, Portland resident Julie Samouelle, who is concerned about the plant’s possible affects on her asthmatic son, and Portland Town Councillor Richard Denton-White.

NOPE member Andrew Butler said: “This open public meeting will be attended by W4B, the company proposing to build the power plant. People should come so they can understand what W4B is proposing to do and to hear why local residents, campaign organisations and local politicians are so radically opposed to this plant.”

The meeting comes ahead of a large demonstration through Weymouth’s streets on Saturday May 1.

Up to 1,000 protesters are expected to gather at Brunswick Terrace by the Pier Bandstand ahead of the 11am march along the seafront and over the Town Bridge to a 12noon rally in Hope Square.

In February, 400 demonstrators marched through Portland against the scheme.

W4B Renewable Energy has been given the go-ahead by Weymouth and Portland Borough Council to build the plant but protesters hope to persuade the Government to overturn the decision after Bristol City Council voted against W4B having a plant in Avonmouth.