Belco has been awarded planning permission to expand its central plant. Four new generators and a 213ft (65m) exhaust stack are to be built according to plans recently approved by the Development Applications Board. The first two generators and the stack are expected to be operational before the end of 2013, with the second phase of the project finished by 2017.The Bermuda Sustainable Energy Council wrote a letter objecting to the proposal. The group expressed concern about the emissions it felt would be produced by the new generators.Chris Nash of the BSEC noted in the letter that the stack would be only 15m higher than Mount Hill, which lies 200 yards downwind of the proposed stack. He also stated that there was no information in the environmental impact study regarding the effects of settled emissions on roofs and in water tanks.Belco maintained the new stack would actually reduce emissions as it would enable the company to retire older generators already operating beyond their normal service life.The project developers said the height of the stack was determined based on emission dispersion models created by air quality consultants, which recommended a minimum height of 59.58m.The proposed North Plant project will be built between Cemetery Road and St John’s Road and will include four 18MW generators, storage tanks and external radiators. The new generators will be housed in an acoustically-tested, metal-clad structure to reduce noise pollution.Belco has said publicly that its goal is for Bermuda to have 20 percent of the Island’s energy coming from renewable sources by 2020.