Covanta Dumps Welsh Waste-to-Energy Plant

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) -- Plans to build a €457 million ($640 million) waste-to-energy (WTE) plant in Wales have been scrapped by the U.S. energy company Covanta Holding Corporation (NYSE:CVA) (Fairfield, New Jersey).

The company's U.K. arm, Covanta Energy (Kingswinford, England), blamed the decision on what it called the Welsh authorities' 'fragmented approach' to dealing with its non-recyclable waste. The facility was to be located at a site in Brig y Cwm, near the town of Merthyr Tydfil. Capable of burning up to 750,000 tonnes of non-recyclable waste a year, it would have produced up to 70 megawatts (MW) of electricity, as well as heat for local businesses.

The news comes just a week after the Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC) gave the green light to Covanta for its Rookery South waste-to-energy (WTE) plant in Bedfordshire. The proposed facility will consume 585,000 tonnes of rubbish per year and generate approximately 55 MW of electricity and about 10 MW of thermal heat. Work is due to start on the plant in the second half of 2013, with commissioning due in early 2015. For additional information see related October 25, 2011, article - First Infrastructure Planning Commission Decision Favours Rookery South Waste-to-Energy Facility.

"Covanta's decision is due to commercial circumstances relating to the local authority procurement situation in Wales," explained Covanta's managing director, Malcolm Chilton. "We were looking to provide a national solution for much of the waste in Wales that is currently going to landfill. This would have provided a low disposal cost, low-carbon and highly efficient solution. After a long search we decided to place our multimillion-pound inward investment in Merthyr Tydfil. However, the local authorities have adopted a fragmented approach (not a national approach) to dealing with residual waste. This makes the current proposal for the plant unviable."

He added: "It's a shame the project isn't going ahead. The heat produced at the plant would have acted as a magnet for other businesses in the area."

The Brig y Cwm facility was the first Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) in Wales to be put forward to the IPC, the U.K. body charged with approving any application for energy facilities over 50 MW.

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