UK’s first ‘steam from waste’ plant opens

The community-sized facility, which has opened in the island’s capital in Newport after several months of delay, can generate 2.3 megawatts (MW) of electricity – sufficient to power more than 3000 local homes.

The £8 million gasification plant, part-funded by the Government’s New Technology Demonstrator Programme, uses advanced thermal conversion technology developed by a company called Energos, which pioneered the process in Norway, where it already operates five community facilities.  

Energos says its technology is a proven low-emission gasification technology that can make a key contribution to the Government’s landfill diversion targets and can complement local recycling initiatives.

“We believe that our strategy of providing community-sized energy from waste solutions that complement local recycling initiatives is the way forward. This is proven at our existing operations in Norway and Germany, which have a proven track record of extremely low emissions,” said Nick Dawber, managing director of Energos.

Energos’ patented technology converts residual, non-recyclable waste into a gas by using the heat of partial combustion to liberate  hydrocarbons. Complete oxidation of the gas in a finely controlled environment enables much tighter controls than can be achieved in conventional energy from waste plants, reducing emissions. The heat produced is recovered to produce steam and electricity.

On the Isle of Wight the company is working with Biffa subsidiary Island Waste Services to convert 30,000 tonnes of residual waste from 60,000 tonnes currently being processed at a main island resource recovery facility.

The IW plant, which has so far created seven full time jobs, was due to open earlier in the year, but was delayed because of problems of integrating existing infrastructure and equipment from a former incineration plant on the site into a new control system.

Energos, which recently won a British Renewable Energy Award, has planning permission for an 80,000 tonne plant in Irvine, Scotland and recently submitted a planning application to build a further facility in Knowsley, Merseyside.  This would process 80,000 tonnes of residual waste, generating enough electricity for over 10,000 homes as well as producing heat for use by neighbouring industries.

“We can make a significant contribution to the Government’s renewables target, with a typical Energos plant generating eight MW of green electricity. This is sufficient to power 10,000 homes and would equate to the output of 18 large wind turbines,” said Dawber.

Energos, said the Isle of Wight plant is the only energy from waste process in the UK that has preliminary accreditation for Renewable Obligations Certificates.

The opening of the plant coincides with publication of the report by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers that criticises the UK Government for not doing enough to promote energy-from-waste facilities and focusing too much on recycling.

The report, entitled Energy from Waste: A Wasted Opportunity?, argues that recycling should only be for waste products that cannot be more sustainably converted into electricity, heat and/or transport fuels.
 
The UK still sends around 60 per cent of its waste to landfill. Around 34 per cent of waste is being recycled, but just six per cent of waste is being turned into energy.