US energy-from-waste specialist Covanta Energy have unveiled plans to develop a large-scale EfW facility using combined heat and power (CHP) technology at Drumshangie, to the east of Glasgow.
The company revealed last week (October 1) that it was proposing to build the Airdrie North plant to treat a mixture of municipal residual waste and commercial and industrial (C&I) waste, generating 24 megawatts (MW) of electricity for export to the National Grid.
The company could not reveal the proposed treatment capacity of the facility, with a spokeswoman explaining that it was currently being considered in light of changes to Scotland's ‘zero waste' policy. The Scottish Government had considered capping the amount of waste that could be sent for energy recovery, but in June 2010 it scrapped the proposed 25% limit (see letsrecycle.com story).
Covanta stressed that the facility has already been granted planning permission, and it is understood that an energy-from-waste plant on the Drumshangie site with a proposed capacity of 300,000 tonnes-a-year has received planning approval from North Lanarkshire council.
Commenting on the proposals, Covanta Energy's managing director, Malcolm Chilton, said: “This is Covanta's first project in Scotland and will provide an important part of the region's waste management and renewable power infrastructure.
“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 & power output,” he added.
Inputs
The company said that it expected waste processed at the Airdrie North facility to predominantly come from the central belt of Scotland, from areas with around one hour's operating radius of the site.
“The site's location is ideal to take waste from areas of high population within this radius, reducing the need to transport waste long distances,” it said in a statement.
The spokeswoman noted that no contracts were in place yet for the waste, but said Covanta was bidding for a contract to take waste from South Lanarkshire council.
Outputs
In terms of outputs, Covanta said it had already identified potential customers for the heat/chilling load, including the data centre on an adjacent site that it received planning permission for in May 2010.
And, it claimed that the combined heat and power output would be enough to provide around 80,000 homes with renewable energy. It also stressed that the proposed plant met the Scottish Environment Protection Agency's efficiency guidelines and emissions targets set by European and national regulations.
Construction of the plant is expected to begin in autumn 2011, with the site becoming operational in early 2015.
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