Deliveries
The commissioning step comes after the first deliveries of waste to the new plant by Biffa and signals the start of preparations for full operation by May 2023.
The waste deliveries are expected to fill part of Newhurst’s large waste bunker, which has a perimeter of 210 metres. Up to 350,000 tonnes of municipal waste, commercial and industrial waste and refuse derived fuel (RDF) will eventually go into the plant each year and be delivered by road.
Covanta/Biffa/Macquarie
The EfW facility is jointly owned by Covanta, Biffa and investment firm Macquarie’s Green Investment Group. For Biffa the facility is seen as very significant because it represents its first move into having a stake in large EfW infrastructure.
Newhurst, which has a stack height of 96.5 metres, has a furnace with an air-cooled moving grate design. The moving grate will consist of inclined fixed and moving bars that move waste from the feed inlet to the residue discharge.
According to the Environment Agency permit for the facility, “the grate movement will turn and mix the waste along the surface of the grate, ensuring all waste will be exposed to the combustion process”.
Hot commissioning
Local residents were told by Covanta on 21 October that the project is now “fully into the hot commissioning” stage.
Craig Burdis, Covanta project manager for Newhurst, said: “Following the successful completion of controlled steam blowing activities, the facility recently received its first deliveries of residual waste (this is waste that remains once the recyclable waste has been separated and would otherwise be sent to landfill).
“The delivery of waste leads us to the next important step. Once the furnace reaches its required temperature of 850°C, waste will be gradually introduced to the grate for treatment.
“The team will be monitoring this process closely as we work towards full operations in 2023. Air quality monitoring has already been set up and emission levels will be continuously checked in accordance with Environment Agency regulations.”
(above) Construction Progress update September 2021 to March 2022 (video: Covanta)
EfW specialist
Covanta will operate Newhurst under a long-term operations and maintenance agreement. The company is an American EfW specialist which is now in the process of restructuring and establishing a separate European entity. Globally it handles around 21 million tonnes of waste and in the UK is involved with four facilities.
In the UK, Covanta has already developed the Rookery Pit EfW plant in Bedfordshire and work has restarted on the Earls Gate plant in Grangemouth, Scotland. The Grangemouth plant saw contractor CNIM declare insolvency and the contract has since seen CNIM’s work taken on by Brockwell Energy, which was already working on the plant and is a shareholder.
In Cheshire, construction work is well underway on the Protos energy recovery facility which also has Biffa involvement.
Electricity
The Newhurst site will 42Mwe of electricity every year. Originally planned with two lines, the plant was developed with a single line by contractor Hitachi Zosen Inova.
Biffa gained planning permission for the site in 2012 and the facility will operate on a ‘merchant’ basis, meaning it is not tied to any particular local authority contract.
Biffa Waste Services is expected to supply around 70% of the waste to the facility and is arranging contracts with suppliers as well as providing waste from its own sources. Energy generated from the plant will be sold via Smartest Energy under a power purchase agreement. This has been described as “one of the largest power purchase agreements (PPA) seen in the UK Energy-from-Waste sector”.
Under the 15-year PPA secured after a highly competitive tender process, leading independent energy company SmartestEnergy will buy the electricity generated by the facility.
An outlet for the heat has been built in and to date potential users such as a local industrial estate and Loughborough University have been identified.
So far there is no confirmed user of the heat produced by the plant. An outlet for the heat has been built in and to date potential users such as a local industrial estate and Loughborough University have been identified.
According to equipment supplier Valmet, Newhurst has an expected electrical net efficiency of 31.3% percent, which will make it “one of the most energy-efficient plants in the world when it enters commercial operation in 2023.”
Technology
On the technology front, HZI has described the advanced nature of the facility.
HZI has noted that Newhurst “will employ state-of-the-art technology, including the very latest iteration of HZI’s air-cooled reciprocating grate. It has been designed as the largest single line facility built by HZI to date with a view to optimising capital expenditure and operating costs.
“To operate the plant, HZI will employ its enhanced combustion control system (CCS+).
Newhurst will employ state-of-the-art technology, including the very latest iteration of HZI’s air-cooled reciprocating grate.
“This will adjust combustion in line with the composition of the waste fed in and optimise burnout, ensuring that the reduction of oxides of nitrogen meets the highest quality standards even in the combustion phase.
“In combination with XeroSorp dry sorption flue gas treatment, this will mean that emissions not only comply with the legal limits but in fact fall below them.”
Opportunities
Covanta Europe’s owner, the investment firm EQT Infrastructure, has signalled that the company will be looking for further EfW opportunities. Explaining the creation of the new Covanta Europe business as separate from the American entity, EQT said earlier this year that it will continue to support the business in its next phase of growth.
EQT noted: “Under the new structure, both platforms will leverage EQT’s global reach and expertise in the market as well as benefit from increased flexibility to pursue value-enhancing opportunities unique to their respective geographies and strategic priorities. The standalone platform in Europe will be led by its current President and CEO, Owen Michaelson, who will be supported by a new Board of Directors.”
Noteworthy
From a legal and financing perspective, advisers Ashurst have highlighted four “noteworthy” aspects to the Newhurst project. They are:
· the nature and extent of the hedging proposed by the sponsors, including with respect to flexibility around electricity hedging;
· the financing structure set a new benchmark for UK greenfield EfW projects, with advances in debt sizing, tenor and debt service reserve;
· establishment by the sponsors of a clear and coherent waste strategy, which balances shareholder flexibility to manage third party fuel supplies with lenders’ desire for information and controls; and
· the nature of the long-term waste supply arrangements with Biffa, which de-risk the project from its exposure to the waste market.
Below is the latest Covanta video of construction progress at the Protos plant
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