A LANDFILL site in Wootton Bassett could become home to a state-of-the-art renewable energy generator that has the potential to power 5,000 local homes.

Land at Park Grounds Farm, in Brinkworth Road, has been identified by Purepower Holdings Ltd as an ideal site for a £10m wood burning unit.

But the man behind the project is keen to stress it is not an incinerator.

Adam Overfield is the chief executive of Purepower, which is based in Cirencester and was founded in 2004.

He said the development could prove to be a real asset to the people of Wootton Bassett.

He said: “This is certainly not an incinerator. An incinerator is basically a glorified bonfire, whereas this is a piece of advanced technology that can transform the wood brought to the site into enough energy to power 5,000 homes.

“This is advanced conversion technology, which basically sees the wood heated up to 1,000 degrees.

“The wood becomes a gas and we put that gas into an engine that uses that as a fuel to power generators.

“Once it is up and running it will be producing a continuous three megawatts of power, which will all be put back into the local grid.

“And it is enough to power 5,000 homes.”

The generator would burn about 30,000 tonnes of wood each year to produce the power.

If the application is successful Mr Overfield hopes the scheme will be up and running in time for next Christmas.

He said: “We would like to start work probably around March or April and it would be approximately a nine-month construction.

“I think this would benefit Wootton Bassett a great deal because they would be getting their energy from a renewable source.”

The consultation period on the application has now closed and a decision is due to be made by Wiltshire County Council’s planning committee at the beginning of next month.

Purepower currently has a similar project under way in Huntingdon, which is due to be completed early next year.