Energos appointed to Derby gasification project

The company, which is part of Manchester-based renewable energy firm ENER-G, will help to develop a 140,000 tonne-a-year gasification facility on Sinfin Lane in Derby on behalf of a joint venture between United Utilities and services firm Interserve.

United Utilities and Interserve were confirmed on January 13 as preferred bidder for a 27-year deal, beginning in 2010, to design, build and operate a facility to process both Derbyshire county council and Derby city council's residual household waste.

Energos' appointment means the plant will use their patented version of the advanced thermal treatment process to convert the waste into a gas, which will then be used to produce 8MW of electricity for export to the National Grid.

Energos' process has already been installed in a plant on the Isle of Wight which opened last year (see letsrecycle.com story) and, in July 2008, the company submitted a planning proposal to build an 80,000 tonne-a-year capacity facility at Knowsley, on Merseyside (see letsrecycle.com story).

The Derby project's joint venture project director, Blair Marriott, said: “We are pleased to be working with Energos which offers a world class, low emission technology and a proven reputation for excellence.

“Our proposed state-of-the-art waste management facility points the way forward for UK municipal solid waste management and is a viable and environmentally friendly alternative to landfill and incineration,” he added.

Energos' managing director, Nick Dawber, described the facility as “a community-sized solution to responsibly dealing with local waste.”

Contest

United Utilities and Interserve were announced as preferred bidder for the Derbyshire contract in December 2008, winning a lengthy head-to-head contest with Spanish-owned Waste Recycling Group (WRG) (see letsrecycle.com story).

The deal represents United Utilities first major contract success in the waste sector, though it is one of four shortlisted bidders for the Cheshire PFI contract (see letsrecycle.com story), and is also part of the consortium the 'Resource from Waste Alliance' which is the running for the Merseyside PFI waste deal (see letsrecycle.com story).

The Derbyshire contract also involves United Utilities taking over the management of 10 household waste recycling centres (HWRC) across both the county and city itself.

Following the two councils' approval of their appointment to the contract earlier this month, United Utilities and Interserve will now apply for planning permission for the gasification facility with a view to beginning building work in spring 2010 and having the plant up-and-running by July 2012.