Two multi-million pound projects offering competing visions to secure Britain's future power demands were given a green light by the Government today.

Centrica, the owner of British Gas, has been granted the go-ahead to build a gigantic £400 million gas-fired plant at Langage, near Plymouth in Devon.

The 885-megawatt facility will be the UK's first major new power plant for five years when it opens in winter 2008, capable of powering the equivalent of a million homes.

Meanwhile in London, approval has been given - after 16 years of negotiation - for a £200m waste incinerator in Bexley, across the Thames from the old Dagenham Ford plant.

From 2010, the Belvedere plant - run by a subsidiary of Cory Environmental - will generate 72 megawatts by burning around 500,000 tonnes of rubbish from city homes every year. Much of the waste will be transported to the site via tugs and barges to cut road travel.

Malcolm Wicks, the Energy Minister, welcomed both developments, which he said would contribute to the security of the UK's energy supplies as the previous generation of power stations comes offline.

Environmentalists however were unanimous in their condemnation: while the Devon plant will burn more carbon-releasing fossil fuel, the London incinerator will waste rubbish which could be recycled.

Mr Wicks countered the criticism, saying that even if London were to meet the ambitious recycling targets set by mayor Ken Livingstone, there would be "ample residual waste to fuel the station".

Both initiatives come at a time of rising prices, declining domestic reserves and increasing uncertainty over traditional energy supplies.

Nuclear power, in the words of Tony Blair, is also "back with a vengeance" and is widely expected to be brought back onto the agenda with the publication of the Government's energy review in the next few weeks.

Sir Roy Gardner, Chief Executive of Centrica, said that Langage would be one of the UK’s most efficient power stations. He said that the company's investment in the 885-megawatt facility signalled its commitment to securing the energy needs of British Gas customers.

Jenny Bates, a spokeswoman for Friends of the Earth, said: “The Government is supposed to be promoting recycling and waste prevention but they have just allowed the biggest incinerator in Europe to be built in London."

A spokesman for the Department of Trade and Industry said that Britiain needed to develop a position of energy security through diversity of sources, including fossil fuels, renewables, incineration and - depending on the outcome of the review - possibly nuclear power.

"It's not an all-or-nothing approach," he said.

Jean Lambert, the Green Party's MEP for London and a vocal critic of the Belvedere plant, argued that the DTI policy of 'energy diversity' looked more like confusion.

"We are seeing major decisions on the future of Britain's energy supply being left to companies who present their plans to the Government as a fait accompli. It isn't so much a coherent strategy of maintaining diversity as a complete muddle."

Explore UK News

• Crime News

• Education News

• Health News

• Science News

• Scotland News

Times Recommends

• An officer and a gentle woman
• Dame Helen Mirren is worthy of the Epidaurus
• Foods that can help to prevent swine flu