Wheelabrator Technologies has announced a new partnership with Verus Energy Limited and Low Carbon Limited to develop the Kelvin Energy Recovery Facility in West Bromwich.
The waste-to-energy facility is expected to reach financial close by the end of 2020. Once financial close has been achieved, Wheelabrator Technologies will own and operate the facility standalone. Construction is expected to commence in early 2021.
The waste-to-energy facility, which was granted planning consent in September 2019, will divert 395,000 tonnes (435,000 tons) of non-recyclable household and business waste from landfill or export and instead use it to generate 49.9MW (gross) / 44MW (net) of renewable baseload energy per annum, equivalent to the needs of around 70,000 UK homes.
Providing an essential service such as the safe and reliable treatment of non-recyclable waste is even more critical during a crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic
Located on a site owned by Giffords Property, the facility is strategically located to treat non-recyclable waste from a catchment area which has a projected capacity shortfall of over 2M tonnes (2.2M tons) per annum.
Commenting on the new partnership, Wheelabrator Technologies UK Managing Director, Julia Watsford said: “Providing an essential service such as the safe and reliable treatment of non-recyclable waste is even more critical during a crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic and we are committed to continuing operations throughout the pandemic to support the health and well-being of our communities, employees and partners.
“We are and will continue to take all necessary steps to protect our employees, our customers and the communities in which we operate.”
“Critical time”
The development of Kelvin Energy Recovery Facility will further improve the UK’s waste-to-energy infrastructure at this “critical time”, the company says.
It will set out to “safely treat waste byproducts” and divert non-recyclable waste from landfill. The company says it will also prevent the need for export of waste to Europe, reduce greenhouse gases, recycle metals that would otherwise go to landfill and generate clean, renewable “baseload energy”.
Tim Jervis, Verus Energy, said: “The facility will provide the area with a state-of-the-art waste management facility with a significantly lower environmental impact than either landfilling or transporting waste to distant alternative disposal sites. We’re looking forward to seeing it progress.”
Dominic Noel-Johnson, Investment Director at Low Carbon, said: “We believe the project will be a world-class infrastructure asset once constructed and will support a low-carbon future through the generation of renewable energy and help reduce the UK’s carbon emissions.”
The facility will provide the area with a state-of-the-art waste management facility with a significantly lower environmental impact than either landfilling or transporting waste to distant alternative disposal sites
Wheelabrator Technologies’ two other advanced waste-to-energy development projects include Wheelabrator Kemsley North in Sittingbourne, Kent, located adjacent to Wheelabrator’s Kemsley (K3) facility, and Skelton Grange in Yorkshire, less than 15 miles from Multifuel Energy Limited (MEL) Ferrybridge 1 and Ferrybridge 2, which are part of the MEL joint venture with SSE.
Wheelabrator Technologies recently reached full commercial operations at two new waste-to-energy facilities in North Wales and West Yorkshire, Wheelabrator Parc Adfer and Ferrybridge 2.
Once Wheelabrator Kemsley becomes operational in Q2 2020, Wheelabrator will have the combined capacity to treat over 2.2M tonnes (2.4M tons) of non-recyclable waste, capable of powering around 500,000 UK homes and businesses each and every year.
The news follows the announcement earlier this year that Wheelabrator Technologies would no longer proceed with its plans for the proposed Harewood waste-to-energy project in Hampshire.