The waste company said that the event marks “a monumental milestone” after four years of planning and construction.
The WERF has been jointly owned by Viridor and Equitix since January 2022 under Westfield Energy Recovery Limited (WERL). The plans and permission for the site were originally established by Brockwell Energy.
Construction began in December 2021 and commissioning is expected to commence in 2025.
Kanadevia Inova (formerly Hitachi Zosen Inova) was the main contractor and will continue as the operator of the ERF.
Jonathan Heneghan, chairman of the board for WERL and director of Capital Projects at Viridor, said: “The first fire is a pivotal moment signalling our move from a site under construction to one that is fully operational. It is down to the fantastic teams we have had on site that we have reached this stage so seamlessly. My thanks go out to everyone who has contributed to this project.”
Lekan Omoniwa, WERL board member and director of asset management at Equitix, added: “We are delighted to have achieved this significant milestone within the scheduled timescale.
“This sets us up nicely for a successful commissioning and testing phase in the coming months, leading to commercial operations being delivered as anticipated by early Q2 2025. A big thank you to all the stakeholders that have played a part in the continued successful delivery of this project.”
The site is expected to process approximately 240,000 tonnes of residual black bag waste and power around 55,000 homes.
Viridor said that further plans for WERF include a potential heat network and carbon capture project.
Last Monday (25 Monday 2024), the waste company announced that it had reached financial close on the Thameside Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) at Tilbury Docks.
Construction is expected to commence later this month, with the new site increasing Viridor’s fleet to 12 ERFs across the UK.
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