Construction of Ardley EfW in full swing

The 205 million EfW plant is being developed under a 25-year residual waste treatment contract between Viridor and Oxfordshire county council, signed in March 2011 (see letsrecycle.com story).

Senior representatives from Viridor, the council and construction consortium CNIM-Clugston visited the construction site on Friday (April 27) to see first-hand the completion of excavation works of the 7,200m3 waste bunker. Once the facility is operational, the bunker will provide storage for up to 5,000 tonnes of residual waste awaiting conversion into energy.

After seeing all activities taking place on site and the progress to date, Viridor chief executive Colin Drummond said: I would like to congratulate the project team for the great work being put into the development of this first class facility which will be an important contributor to the green economy in Oxfordshire for years to come. Our EfW facility will help the council achieve its ambitious targets and continue to deliver cost-effective services for its residents whilst producing valuable renewable energy for homes and businesses via the National Grid.

Huw Jones, director for environment and economy at Oxfordshire county council, said that it had taken a long time and a lot of hard work to reach the milestone.
Viridor faced a number of hurdles last year in gaining planning permission for the facility, with the final go-ahead given in November 2011 (see letsrecycle.com story).

Mr Jones said: Its a testament to the effort of all those involved to finally see the facility becoming a reality and taking shape on the ground. The Council is looking forward to the facility being completed in 2014 when we will start to see the real benefits in terms of value for money for Oxfordshire residents. All but a small proportion of residual waste will be diverted from landfill which will reduce carbon emissions and bring genuine environmental benefits completing the jigsaw of infrastructure in Oxfordshire and a major step towards zero waste ambitions.

Preparatory

Construction works began at the end of 2011, with the initial site fencing, preparatory earthworks, temporary surface water drainage scheme, drilling ground dewatering boreholes and excavating the waste bunker in the quarry floor.

In the next few months, the waste bunker reinforced concrete construction will be progressed; the new entrance and access road will be constructed, whilst detailed design and plant procurement will continue.

The EfW facility will have a capacity to process 300,000 tonnes of residual, non-recyclable waste with substantial environmental benefits including the landfill diversion of up to 95% of waste delivered to the facility and the generation of up to 24MW of renewable electricity to be supplied to the National Grid.

Over 30 people are working on site and this figure is expected to rise to over 200 at the peak of construction work. In the long-term, the facility will provide permanent employment to around 40 people.