Energy and steam generation by machinery or electrical equipment businesses

If you produce energy or steam on your site and you have a generator, furnace or boiler with a rated thermal input above certain threshold levels, you will require a permit from your environmental regulator.

For example, you will need a permit if you use a generator in your machinery and equipment manufacturing processes.

What you must do

England and Wales – get an environmental permit

You will need a Part A(1) or Part A(2) environmental permit for:

appliances with a rated thermal input of 50 megawatts or more
appliances burning waste oil, recovered oil or any fuel manufactured from waste.

You will need a Part B environmental permit for:

appliances with a rated thermal input of 20 to 50 megawatts
appliances burning waste excluded from the Waste Incineration Directive (WID) with a rated thermal input of 0.4 to 3 megawatts.

Business Link (England): Environmental permits - who needs one and how to comply
Business.Wales.gov.uk (Wales): Environmental permits - who needs one and how to comply

Northern Ireland - get a pollution prevention and control permit

You will need a Part A pollution prevention and control (PPC) permit for:

appliances with a rated thermal input of 50 megawatts or more
appliances with a thermal input of between 3 and 50 megawatts, if you are using it to burn waste oil, recovered oil or any fuel manufactured from waste.

You will need both a Part B and Part C PPC permit for:

appliances with a rated thermal input of 20 to 50 megawatts
appliances burning waste excluded from the Waste Incineration Directive with a rated thermal input of 0.4 to 3 megawatts.

Part B is regulated by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) and Part C is regulated by your district council.

Pollution prevention and control permits

Scotland – get a pollution prevention and control permit

You will need a Part A pollution prevention and control (PPC) permit for:

appliances with a rated thermal input of 50 megawatts or more
appliances burning waste oil, recovered oil or fuel manufactured from waste.

You will need a Part B PPC permit for:

appliances with a rated thermal input of 20 to 50 megawatts
appliances burning waste excluded from the Waste Incineration Directive with a rated thermal input of 0.4 to 3 megawatts.

You may still have a Local Air Pollution Control (LAPC) authorisation. This will eventually be transferred to Part B PPC.

Pollution prevention and control permits

Comply with the waste incineration directive

If you burn quantities of waste above certain limits you will need an environmental permit (England and Wales) or a PPC permit (Northern Ireland and Scotland) that complies with the Waste Incineration Directive.

See our guidance on waste incineration in:

England on Business Link: Burning waste - your environmental responsibilities
Northern Ireland on NIBusinessInfo: Burning waste - your environmental responsibilities
Scotland on Business Gateway: Burning waste - your environmental responsibilities
Wales on Business.Wales.gov.uk: Burning waste - your environmental responsibilities

Get a clean air consent

You must have a consent from your local council under the Clean Air Act before you install a furnace or a fixed boiler on your site. Building regulations consent is not sufficient. You must be able to operate the furnace continually without emitting smoke when using the correct type of fuel.

See our guidance on preventing air pollution from furnaces, boilers and bonfires in:

England on Business Link: Preventing air pollution
Northern Ireland on NIBusinessInfo: Preventing air pollution
Scotland on Business Gateway: Preventing air pollution
Wales on Business.Wales.gov.uk: Preventing air pollution

Meet chimney height requirements

Your chimney must be high enough to prevent smoke, grit, dust, gases and fume emissions damaging health or causing a nuisance. Your local council can refuse approval for a chimney that is not a sufficient height.

You must apply for chimney height approval from your local council if:

you do not have an environmental permit (England and Wales) or a PPC permit (Northern Ireland and Scotland)
you do not hold an LAPC authorisation in Scotland
your boiler’s fuel consumption exceeds 45.4kg (solid fuel) or 366.4kW (liquid or gas fuel) per hour.

If your approval application is refused your local council will tell you the minimum chimney height you need.

Your local council can give conditional approval for your chimney. You may have restrictions on the rate and type of emissions. Emission rates are measured in kilograms per hour (Kg/hr).

If your use of the chimney changes you must re-apply for approval for the new emissions.

It is an offence to use a chimney without approval from your local council.

Contact your local council

Meet boiler emission requirements

If you install a new boiler it must be able to run continuously without emitting smoke.

You must fit all boilers with grit and dust arrestment equipment. You can apply to your local council for an exemption, but this will only be granted if the boiler will not create emissions that could damage health or cause a nuisance.

For further information contact your local council or SEPA in Scotland.

Contact your local council
SEPA: Contacting SEPA

See our guidance on air pollution from furnaces, boilers and bonfires in:

Oil and condensation

You must not use gas oil with a sulphur content over 0.1% by mass.

You must not use heavy fuel oil with a sulphur content over 1% by mass.

If you have pre-1987 combustion equipment you can apply for a sulphur content of liquid fuels permit from your local council in England and Wales, from SEPA in Scotland or from the Industrial and Radiochemical Inspectorate in Northern Ireland.

You must gain approval from either your environmental regulator or sewerage undertaker to discharge to surface waters, groundwater or foul sewers condensate from:

steam traps
acid from regenerating ion exchange resins
boiler blowdown water.

Good practice

Visually inspect your emissions regularly so you can detect problems early.

Carry out planned maintenance to ensure that your boiler meets air emission standards and operates efficiently.

Use cleaner fuels, such as gas, to limit the environmental impact of your boiler.

Make use of the free services available to your business to help reduce your demand for energy and heat.

See our guidance on energy efficiency in:

England on Business Link: Save money by using energy more efficiently
Northern Ireland on NIBusinessInfo: Save money by using energy more efficiently
Scotland on Business Gateway: Save money by using energy more efficiently
Wales on Business.Wales.gov.uk: Save money by using energy more efficiently

Further information on energy and steam generation

See our guidance on generating energy from waste.

Process guidance notes are available which provide details of how your business is regulated for emissions to air. You can buy process guidance notes from the Stationery Office or download them from Defra.

The Stationery Office Bookshop
Defra: Process guidance notes (PG) notes
Defra / WAG: PG1/1(04) Waste Oil and Recovered Oil Burners: Less than 0.4MW net rated thermal input (England and Wales) (Adobe PDF – 332KB)
Defra: PG1/02 (05) - Waste Oil or Recovered Oil Burners, 0.4 3 MW Net Rated Thermal Input (Adobe PDF – 54KB)
Defra: PG1/3(95) (amended by AQ23(04)) Boilers and Furnaces, 20-50MW Net Rated Thermal Input (England and waste) (Adobe PDF – 57KB)
Defra: AQ23(04) Amendments of PG 1/3(95) Boilers and Furnaces, 20-50 MW Net Rated Thermal Input
Defra / WAG: Guidance note on small waste oil burners and the waste incineration directive (Adobe PDF – 101KB)
Defra: Environmental permitting guidance – The directive on the incineration of waste (Adobe PDF – 803KB)
DOENI: Guidance on Directive 2000/76/EC on the incineration of waste (Northern Ireland)
Scottish Government: Practical guide to the Waste Incineration Regulations