Medium Combustion Plant Directive (MCPD) – 10th July 2025
To comply with the requirements of the Environmental Permitting Regulations (EPR), Schedule 25A & 25B you need a permit from the Environment Agency (EA) for the following:
- New standalone MCPs between 1-50MWth (before it is commissioned)
- Existing standalone MCPs between 5-50MWth
- Tranche A and B specified generators (permitting date requirement varies)
If you need a permit and have not already applied, you should do this as soon as possible to avoid enforcement action in line with the Environment Agency’s enforcement and sanctions policy.
Online Application Service
The Environment Agency is testing a new online service for permit applications in England. Within the service, you can apply for a new standard rules or bespoke permit for stationary medium combustion plant (MCP) and specified generators (SG).
Standard Rules (SR) Permit
Standard rules permits are available for certain low risk MCP and SG operations, these are the cheapest option available in terms of application charges and on-going subsistence.
To apply for a SR permit you must be able to meet the rules set out in the permit. If you cannot, you need to apply for a bespoke permit.
Bespoke Permits
If you cannot meet the conditions in a standard rules permit, you must apply for a bespoke permit. There are two types:
- Simple Bespoke (low risk) – does not require detailed air dispersion modelling
- Complex Bespoke (high risk) – does require detailed air dispersion modelling
The guidance sets out which type of bespoke permit you must apply for and the information you will need to provide.
Aggregation
We would like to draw your attention to the guidance on aggregation, in summary:
- You only need to aggregate NEW MCP where they share a common stack.
- You should not aggregate existing MCPs even if they share a common stack.
Back- up Generators
Backup generators (operated for less than 50 hours per year for testing) which are also Medium Combustion Plant DO require permitting at the relevant date.
Tranche A Specified Generators Greater than 5MWth
An Environmental Permit was required by 1st January 2025 for Tranche A Specified Generators with individual or aggregated capacity greater than >5MWth thermal input with emissions which have:
- An emission of NO2 <less than 500mg/m3 NOX2 (@ 15% Oxygen)
- Are operated for less than 50 hours per year.
The Standard ELV of 190mg/m3 NOX2 will need to be met by 1st January 2025 for all Tranche A generators of this capacity operated for more than 50 hours per year, unless they do so to meet a capacity market agreement from the 2014 and 2015 Capacity Market Auctions.
EA review of MCPs listed as part of an Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) Installations Permit
For existing MCP between 5-50MWth which are listed as part of an Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) Installation permit, the EA has now completed a review of these permits and in some cases have carried out EA led variations to add in the requirements for monitoring and emission limit values (ELVs) to meet the requirements of the medium combustion plant directive as a minimum.
If your IED permitted facility has directly associated activities or primary activities made up of existing 5-50MWth or new 1-50MWth MCPs which are not currently permitted, you should apply to vary your permit as soon as possible to remain compliant with the regulations.
The EA are now carrying out compliance checks to ensure that operators are monitoring and meeting these ELVs.
The EA are also preparing for a review of permits with exiting 1-5MWth MCPs only before the 1st January 2030.
As part of these preparations, the EA will be contacting operators in the intensive farming sector later this year to gather information about in scope existing 1-5 MWth MCP at these facilities.
Standard Rules Data Returns Service
The Environment Agency is developing a new Data Returns Service which will support individuals, businesses, and representatives in submitting your data returns.
Subsistence Charges for MCP and SG Permit Holders
Medium combustion plant (MCP) annual subsistence costs for bespoke permits have previously been made using time and materials charges.
From the 1st July 2025 the EA will now use fixed rate annual subsistence charge for bespoke MCP and SG permits, instead of Time and Materials charges.
The EA have also decided to standardise the charges paid across standard rules and bespoke MCP and SG permits depending on how many combustion plants are operated.
Decarbonisation Readiness (DR)
The Environment Agency has been assigned a new duty focused on Decarbonisation Readiness for power generation. Effective from 28th February 2026, this mandate requires operators applying for an Environmental Permitting Regulations (EPR) Permit for new or substantially refurbishing power generation facilities (including MCP and SG) to demonstrate how they can transition towards low-carbon technologies – either carbon capture or conversion to hydrogen – through a decarbonisation readiness plan.
The EA Corporate Strategy- EA2030
The Environment Agency has recently published its strategy for the next 5 years to 2030 and beyond. It sets out how the Environment Agency will fulfil its responsibilities over the next 5 years against its long-term goals for England. These are:
- Healthy air, land and water supporting nature’s recovery
- Sustainable growth
- A nation resilient to climate change
It also introduces six guiding principles for how the Environment Agency will operate in the next 5 years, and it describes how the Environment Agency will change. Finally, it sets out the Environment Agency’s approach to measuring and evaluating performance.
