U.K.'s Largest 'Eco-Park' Moves Forward

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--The U.K.'s largest eco-park, which contains its own energy-from-waste (EfW) power plant, is set to begin construction next year.

The new joint venture has been put together by Peel Environmental (Manchester, England) and leading EfW specialist Covanta Energy (Kingswinford, England), a subsidiary of Covanta Holding Corporation (NYSE:CVA) (Fairfield, New Jersey). The controversial £500 million ($731 million) resource recovery park, which contains a 95-megawatt (MW) EfW plant, was given the green light last August by the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC), despite significant protests. For related news, see August 17, 2009, article - U.K. Approves Waste-Burning Power Plant in Cheshire.

The eco-park will be located on a 126-acre site adjacent to the Stanlow Oil Refinery on the south bank of the Manchester Ship Canal and will be run by joint venture company Ince Park LLP. More than 50 acres will be developed as a nature reserve.

Covanta will oversee the design, construction and operation of the EfW facility, which will generate enough electricity for about 150,000 homes. The facility will also supply heat that will be used by the new recycling and reprocessing companies expected to set up operations in the park. Construction of the EfW facility is expected to commence in 2011.

"We are delighted to have found a partner in Covanta who is committed to delivering the EfW plant at the earliest possible opportunity," said Myles Kitcher, director of Peel Environmental. "This means that we are looking at several hundred construction jobs over a three year period in addition to creating more than 1,000 full-time jobs across the full Ince site. Jobs we promised during the planning process will now become a reality."

Malcolm Chilton, Covanta's U.K. managing director, said: "Our energy-from-waste facility will be the heart of the eco-park, which we believe will be a model for the future. It represents the most sensible and viable alternative to our country's current over-reliance on landfills for municipal and business waste. It will provide the energy and means to truly make recycling and reprocessing a reality and not just an aspiration."

The facility will burn an estimated 600,000 tonnes of municipal, commercial and industrial waste.

Last year, Industrial Info tracked three Covanta EfW projects in Europe, representing a combined investment of about 1 billion euros ($1.2 billion). In Dublin, the company is working with 50:50 partner Dong Energy AS (Fredericia, Denmark) on a 60-MW cogeneration facility that will be up and running in the second half of 2012.

Two other EfW facilities are planned in the U.K. A 470 million-euro ($575 million), 70-MW, waste-to-energy plant is planned for Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. The plant will burn 750,000 tonnes of waste per year. The 245 million-euro ($300 million), 35.5-MW Cheshire waste-to-energy facility is planned for Middlewich, England. This facility will burn 370,000 tonnes per year of waste. Commercial operation for both plants is expected to begin in 2014 or 2015. For additional information, see May 15, 2009, article - Covanta Energy Developing 165 Megawatts of Waste-to-Energy Projects in Europe.

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