The world’s largest provider of Energy from Waste (EfW) facilities, Covanta Energy, has announced plans to deliver a regional EfW plant in central Scotland.
The Airdrie North Facility is located at Drumshangie, North Lanarkshire and has already been granted planning permission. Covanta will build, own and operate the EfW facility which will divert waste from landfill, using it instead as a fuel to generate predominantly renewable energy.
A key advantage of the new EfW plant is that, from day one, it will operate as a Combined Heat and Power plant (CHP). Alongside the 24 MW of renewable electricity for export to the National Grid, the facility will also generate a further 23 MW of renewable thermal energy each year for use in district heating or chilling and to support co-located industrial and business processes.
Potential customers for the heat/chilling load have already been identified and these include the Data Centre that received planning permission on an adjacent site in May 2010. It is hoped that the CHP output of the plant will prove attractive to other developments on this site.
This combined output is enough to provide approximately 80 000 homes with renewable energy. It also meets the Scottish Environment Protection Agency’s efficiency guidelines and emissions targets set by European & National regulations.
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The new facility will help Scotland meet two critical environmental targets: diversion of waste from landfill, as required by the EU Landfill Directive, and the supply of energy from renewable sources. When operational it will be an important part of Scotland’s waste management solution, providing a means of energy recovery from the household, commercial and industrial waste which cannot be sensibly recycled.
The Airdrie North Facility will also make a significant contribution to Scotland’s ‘zero waste strategy’ by providing a long term outlet for its post-recycled waste. The Zero Waste Plan states that Scotland produced almost 20 million tonnes of waste in 2008, with approximately six million tonnes of this being sent to landfill. The Airdrie North Facility will help divert waste from landfill recovering energy in the process.
It is anticipated that the waste processed at the Airdrie North Facility will predominantly come from the central belt of Scotland, from areas within approximately one hour’s operating radius of the plant. The site’s location is ideal to take waste from areas of high population within this radius, reducing the need to transport waste long distances. The fuel source will be a mix of municipal solid waste (household waste after recycling has taken place) in addition to commercial and industrial waste.
During construction the development will provide up to 400 jobs. Once operational the facility will employ up to 60 people in a range of roles, varying from maintenance and technical jobs to management and unskilled labour. Construction of the plant is expected to commence in autumn 2011, with the site becoming operational in early 2015.
Commenting on this latest project, Covanta Energy’s Managing Director Malcolm Chilton said: “This is Covanta’s first project in Scotland and will provide an important part of the region’s waste management and renewable power infrastructure.
“It provides a cost efficient and environmentally friendly solution for the proportion of the area’s waste which cannot sensibly be recycled and which has up until now been sent to landfill. The heat output should also act as a development magnet to other industries keen to take advantage of the renewable heat & power output.”
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For more information or images please contact Adrienne Robins or Sananur Meric at Quantum PR on 01233 500 200. adrienne@quantumpr.co.uk
sananur@quantumpr.co.uk