Covanta to Construct First Scottish Energy-from-Waste Plant

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Covanta Energy (Kingswinford, England), part of Covanta Holding Corporation (NYSE:CVA) (Fairfield, New Jersey), has confirmed plans to construct a large-scale energy-from-waste facility near Glasgow, Scotland.

The proposed Airdrie North Facility, located in Drumshangie, east of Glasgow, will use combined heat and power (CHP) technology to generate 24 megawatts (MW) of renewable electricity that will be exported to the national grid and is enough to power approximately 80,000 homes. The facility will also generate 23 MW of thermal energy to be used in district heating or chilling, as well as supporting nearby industrial operations and businesses. This is the first Scottish project for Covanta Energy, and permission for the facility was granted by the North Lanarkshire Council in March.

The news comes in the same week that Covanta's controversial and delayed 60-MW Poolbeg incinerator project in Ireland took an important step forward. The Dublin City Council received permission from the Irish planning authority to purchase the land needed to build a crucial water-cooling facility for the 600,000-tonne plant. Construction of the plant, which has been suspended since May, is now scheduled to begin again early in the new year. For additional information, see related article from October 12, 2010 - Dublin's Poolbeg Incinerator Back On Track.

Construction of the Airdrie North plant is expected to commence in autumn 2011, with the site being commissioned in early 2015. About 400 jobs will be created during construction, with 60 full-time staff expected to run the plant when complete. Most of the waste processed at the facility will come from the central belt of Scotland, from high population areas like Glasgow, and all within approximately one hour's operating radius of the plant.

"This is Covanta's first project in Scotland and will provide an important part of the region's waste management and renewable power infrastructure," said Covanta Energy's Managing Director, Malcolm Chilton. "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 and power output."

Scotland produced almost 20 million tonnes of waste in 2008. Approximately 6 million tonnes of this was sent to landfills. Scotland's 'Zero Waste Strategy' was launched this summer and establishes aggressive targets for waste management. These include targets to send only 5% of all waste to landfills and that 70% of all waste be recycled by 2025.

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