Swedish energy company Vattenfall has abandoned its controversial plans to build a biomass-fired power station in Diemen, after six years of legal disputes.

Last year the Council of State tore up planning permission to build the plant which would have burned wood waste and provided heating for tens of thousands of homes in Diemen and Amsterdam.

The plant had a key role in the city’s plans to move away from gas-fired central heating.

The court said last year the environmental effects of the plant first need to be investigated. Vattenfall submitted a new planning application but has now said it will not press ahead with the scheme after all.

There has been the mounting criticism about the use of biomass and imported wood chips to create energy.

Vattenfall said in a press statement that it is now focusing on geothermal heat as a source for district heating schemes.