Rolls-Royce (www.Rolls-Royce.com) has submitted plans for a new test bed at its civil aero-engine facility in Derby, which will not only secure the future of the aerospace division for the next 30 years but also the 6,000 jobs at the site.

At the end of June, the engineering giant confirmed that it had chosen to site the £90 million test bed at its facility in Sinfin — instead of overseas.

According to its planning application, the new test bed, which will take up to two years to build, should be quieter than both of the existing test beds at the site.

The application submitted to the city council by AECOM Infrastructure and Environment (on behalf of Rolls-Royce) says: “Noise from the new test bed will be of low impact. Given that the new test bed is to be designed to achieve better acoustic performance than Test Bed 57 or 58, it is concluded that, with appropriate detailed acoustic design, compliance with the appropriate sound level limit can be readily achieved.”

The new test bed will be used to help Rolls-Royce develop the next generation of engines — the Advance and Ultrafan; it will also support the planned doubling of engine production, helping the firm to deliver on its £71.3 billion civil-aerospace order book.

It will be capable of testing a range of engines, including the Trent XWB, which powers the Airbus A350 XWB, the new Trent XWB-97 (pictured), which will power the Airbus A350-1000, the Trent 1000 TEN, which will power all variants of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner family, and the Trent 7000, which will power the Airbus A330neo.

The application says: “The current large civil aero-engine test facility fails to meet the current and future requirements of the Rolls-Royce aerospace business.

“The new engine-testing facility will add capability and capacity to the Rolls-Royce test network, will result in significant investment to the local economy and will secure long-term skilled employment in the area.”