UK's biggest Energy from Waste project gets go ahead

14 April 2009

Keppel Seghers has secured a US$518 million contract to build combined heat and power/energy from waste (CHP/EFW) facilities, as part of one of the largest waste and renewable energy projects in the UK.

The energy from waste/combined heat and power plant is part of a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) waste management project by the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority (GMWDA). According to GMWDA, the waste management project will provide an integrated solution for the 1.3 million tonnes of municipal waste which the Authority handles each year, and is the "first of its kind" in the UK on this scale. GMWDA says it will divert more than 75% of Greater Manchester’s waste away from landfill.

GMWDA is responsible for 5% of the UK’s municipal waste and will be making a powerful contribution to ensuring that the UK complies with its requirements under the European Union Landfill Directive. Secretary of State for the Environment Hilary Benn says, “diverting one million tonnes of waste through these world class waste facilities will be a major step in reaching our 2013 and 2020 landfill targets, and play an important role in battling climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions created by landfill".

The contract will take advantage of a range of new technologies, including mechanical biological treatment with anaerobic digestion, a materials recovery facility and combined heat and power; and Greater Manchester’s network of 25 Household Waste Recycling Centres will be increased and upgraded. Residual waste that cannot be recycled, instead of being sent to landfill, will be processed into a fuel for use by a North West major chemicals producer Ineos Chlor to provide energy for its plant at Runcorn, Cheshire. The fuel will feed the new combined heat and power plant which will produce electricity and steam to replace energy currently generated from non-renewable sources. 20 out of the 23 facilities have already received planning consent, including the Runcorn plant.

Keppel Seghers will provide the technology for the energy from waste combined heat and power, and also build the plant for Ineos Runcorn TPS Ltd, a special purpose vehicle which was set up for the procurement, operation and maintenance of the plant. Ineos Runcorn TPS Ltd, is owned by Viridor Waste Management Limited, John Laing PLC and Ineos Chlor.

Featuring the Keppel Seghers Water-Cooled Grate, the horizontal boiler design integrated with Keppel Seghers Prism technology (for enhanced heat recovery) and the Keppel Seghers’ double dry flue gas cleaning system, the energy from waste combined heat and power plant will be one of the larger energy from waste facilities in the UK when completed in 2012. plant will have a capacity to treat up to 420,000 tonnes per year of solid recovered fuel derived from household waste (also known as refuse derived fuel or RDF), and will be able to supply at full capacity some 270,000 MWh of electricity and 500,000 tonnes of steam per year into the internal network of the Ineos Runcorn site. Approximately 275,000 tonnes of RDF will be delivered by GMWDA and the remaining will be delivered by Viridor.

The EU landfill directive

The EU Landfill Directive requires a reduction in municipal solid waste being disposed of to landfill and that municipal solid waste are treated to reduce the biological content prior to landfilling. The Directive will drive demand for alternatives to landfill such as Energy-from-Waste solutions as well as demand for municipal solid waste pretreatment solutions.

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