The planning inspectorate has accepted the North Lincolnshire Green Energy Park proposal for examination.
The £1 billion project aims to bring waste from energy, battery storage and green hydrogen production to Flixbrorough Industrial Estate, to the west of Scunthorpe.
It could create 250 permanent jobs, with a development consent order required to build.
Read more: Equinor brings forward plans for second hydrogen production site on the Humber
Irish firm Solar 21 is behind the project, which was recently resubmitted to the national planning body following technical tweaks based on feedback from the initial submission.
Heat treatment of ash from the waste-to-energy plan, twinned with carbon capture - which could also tap into wider Humber plans - would be used to manufacture construction products.
The nationally-significant nature of the project - the waste-to-energy element would be at 95MW - means it needs the go-ahead from the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
Details on the application timeline will be set out shortly by National Infrastructure Planning.
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Up to 600 jobs have been eyed in construction, with new road access from the A1077, potential for heavy transport fuelling and charging also included, as well as new rail head complex to handle cargo and the reinstatement of a rail link to Scunthorps Steelworks.
A total 0f 30MW of battery storage and 10MW of green hydrogen production and storage were previously highlighted, so too the potential to support district heat and steam networks. It is envisaged that 650,000 tonnes of waste would be diverted from landfill.
Launching the project during the pandemic, Solar 21 chief executive Michael Bradley, said: “The is designed to be clean and efficient and ensure as much energy as possible is recovered from waste that cannot be recycled and to create opportunities for zero-carbon business development in the local area.
“It will directly create up to 300 local jobs and up to 100 apprenticeships. It will also help address two urgent national and local needs: to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill and generate low-carbon energy.”
Solar 21 is headquartered in Dublin, but has a strong footprint in the Humber. It is behind a biogas plant at Plaxton Bridge, near Beverley, with a second - as well as a smaller energy from waste scheme - also in development at Melton, also in the East Riding of Yorkshire. A biomass plant at Tansterne, north east of Hull, completes the portfolio, having launched with solar in Italy, which has now been generating for over a decade.
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