The 80,000 tonnes-a-year capacity plant is set to be developed by technology firm Energos on the Knowsley Business Park and cater for commercial, industrial and household residual waste.
Nick Dawber, managing director of Energos, said: “We look forward to making a positive contribution to the Knowsley community and can now begin detailed discussions with neighbouring businesses to supply affordable, secure heat energy from a renewable source.”
“We offer a proven and world class gasification technology with a 12 year track record of safe operation in Norway. This can help the UK build a much needed sustainable waste infrastructure,” he added.
Waste
Work on the Energos plant, which is being developed as a merchant facility, is set to begin in 2010 and the company is hopeful the facility will be operational in 2012.
A spokeswoman for the company told letsrecycle.com: “At this stage there are no contracts in place for the waste though, now the planning uncertainty is eliminated, we expect that waste management companies with residual commercial waste in the area will be interested in securing some or all of the capacity.
“That there is over 1,000,000 tonnes of commercial waste in the Merseyside region shows there is a need for the facility and with the landfill tax escalator rising to £72 per tonne in 2013 we are sure that we can offer a competitive alternative to landfill,” she added.
In the planning application submitted in July 2008, Energos said that the capacity could potentially rise to 95,000 tonnes-a-year (see letsrecycle.com story).
Process
The gasification process in the Knowsley proposal involves heating residual waste under controlled conditions with steam and oxygen to turn organic matter into “syn-gas” (synthetic gas), a combustible mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. This is burned to generate steam to turn a turbine which creates electricity.
Energos, which is part of North-West based renewable energy company ENER-G, has organised open days in Knowsley and set up a community liaison group to “allay concerns” and involve residents in its plans. The company said it was “totally committed to working openly with the community to bring new jobs, new skills and valuable investment to the area”.
Energos claimed that, over the last three years, it had submitted five planning applications using its gasification process and all five had received consent within 12 months of the application date.
Included in this is its Isle of Wight gasification plant which was involved in the Defra-funded New Technologies Demonstrator Programme. The plant did not complete the contractual obligation of 8,000 operational hours but did reach the operational milestone of 2,000 hours before the assessment deadline passed on March 31 (see letsrecycle.com story).
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