Air Products begins work on TV2 facility

Air Products has begun construction of its second large-scale waste gasification plant in Tees Valley, marking the event with an official ground breaking ceremony attended by cabinet office minister Francis Maude today (April 25).

The 350,000 tonnes-per-year TV2 facility, which will be situated near Billingham, secured planning permission from Stockton-on-Tees borough council in July 2013.

It will convert pre-processed municipal and commercial and industrial waste into energy and is to be built on adjacent land to the firms existing facility, dubbed TV1 which has the same capacity and is scheduled to enter its start-up phase later this year.

The new facility will also use the same plasma gasification technology as TV1, which is provided by Canada-based specialist AlterNRG and sees materials heated in excess of 1,200 degrees celcius to produce synthetic gas.

It is expected that 750 new jobs will be created during the construction phase, and some 50 permanent jobs will also be created when the plant enters commercial operation in 2016.

Mr Maude attended the ground breaking ceremony following the Cabinet Offices decision last year to purchase the plants power output for a 20-year period. The energy contract with Air Products is part of the governments Energy for Growth programme, and meets 2% of the government’s overall energy consumption.

Flagship

Commenting on the TV2 plant, the Minister said: This new facility is a flagship for our Energy for Growth programme, supporting jobs for the North East and generating reliable, renewable energy while also saving taxpayers money.

These projects demonstrate that the UK is an excellent market for investing in innovative new technology. Importantly, the Air Products project provides a solution to the UKs waste management challenge whilst strengthening the countrys energy security.

Whilst presiding over the ground breaking ceremony, Mr Maude also took the opportunity to tour the estimated 320 million TV1 plant, now due to begin operations in 2015. Once completed, Air Products claims it will be the largest gasification renewable energy plant in the world (see letsrecycle.com story).

David Taylor, Air Products vice president for energy business, said: Our agreement with the Cabinet Office serves as a strong endorsement to our state-of-the-art renewable energy projects and to the Teesside area as a leading renewable energy technology centre.

Air Products is at the forefront of technological innovation, investing in green jobs and skills in the North East of England. Once TV2 enters commercial operation, the projects will have created over 1500 jobs in the region and Air Products will have invested significant resources into the local economy.