Medium Combustion Plant Directive (MCPD) Update September 2023
To comply with the requirements of the Environmental Permitting Regulations (EPR) you can now apply for 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 (must be permitted by 1st January 2024)
Applications for standard rules and simple bespoke permits should be made by the 30th September 2023.
- Tranche A and B specified generators (permitting date requirement varies)
Standard Rules (SR) Permit for new and existing low risk stationary MCPs
The EA has published a revised SR2018/7 which can be used for existing low risk stationary MCPs 5-20MWth in addition to new MCPs 1-20MWth.
The EA has also published a new SR2022/9 which is for new 1-20MWth and existing 5-20MWth low risk, stationary MCP which are natural gas boilers.
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.
The application form contains a handy rule set helper which will confirm if you can meet the criteria for an MCP or SG SR permit. As there have been various versions of the SR application form published, the latest version (5.2) should be used for all future applications. If you have partially completed an application on an older version of the form but not yet submitted, it will still be accepted.
If you already have a SR2018/7 permit and you now want to add some existing MCPs at the same site then you should use the same application form as you would if applying for a new SR permit.
Aggregation
We would 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 Medium Combustion Plant do require permitting at the relevant date.
New email address for standard rules permit holders
The way that you correspond with the EA regarding standard rules permit is changing. The MCPDHelp mailbox introduced to help with the implementation of the Medium Combustion Plant Directive during 2018, is no longer fully monitored and will shortly be completely closed from the end of September 2023.
For submitting monitoring returns and correspondence regarding compliance and billing you should now use the replacement mailbox MCPReturns@environment-agency@gov.uk.
