North East energy from waste facility extended to 30MW

Energy-from-waste facility

SITA UK has officially opened a £70 million extension to its energy-from-waste (EfW) facility

Recycling and waste management company SITA UK has officially opened a £70 million extension to its energy-from-waste (EfW) facility at Haverton Hill in the North-East- with the plant set to generate 30MW of electricity from waste each year.

The Tees Valley extension, a third line, has been built to treat waste from SITA's 28 year PFI-funded contract with Northumberland county council. The green energy facility in Haverton Hill, near Billingham, creates electricity for the National Grid by using non-recycled waste as a fuel to produce enough power to supply about 36,000 homes.

The launch of the extension means the EfW plant, which has been operating for 10 years accepting waste from across the North-East, is now able to generate 30MW of electricity by treating 390,000 tonnes of waste a year.

The official opening was attended by North West Durham MP Hilary Armstrong, who is also chairwoman of SITA UK's advisory board, along with SITA UK chief executive David Palmer-Jones and the leader of Northumberland county council, Councillor Jeff Reid.

John Grainger, SITA UK North East regional manager, said: "The extension has firmly placed the Tees Valley on the map as a national centre for green energy."

"It was designed to the very highest environmentally-friendly standards - far higher than the toughest European requirements - and is an efficient and green way of dealing with waste that simply cannot be re-used or recycled."

"I am very pleased that this new equipment was delivered within the timescale and budget agreed, and that it has so far surpassed all of our expectations," he added.

Target

Councillor Jeff Reid explained that the decision to invest the PFI money into an EfW project was "led by environmental considerations, as well as the financial uncertainties of relying on landfilling". He said that the facility would save Northumberland residents millions of pounds in landfill tax each year.

He added: "By 2012, our target is to recycle and compost over 45% of household waste in the county, to recover energy from non-recycled waste and reduce the amount being sent to landfill to only 8%, making Northumberland one of the greenest counties in the UK, and we believe we are on track to achieve that."