The infrastructure project’s developers say the connection will facilitate enough power for up to 30,000 homes and contribute more than 50,000 MWh per year towards Northern Irish renewable energy targets.
The grid connection offer was accepted by the Becon Consortium, the developer bidding to build the facility for the six councils in the arc21 area.
The plant is currently awaiting approval from the Department for Infrastructure (DfI), and the developers say it will be fully operational within four years of securing all necessary consent.
John Ahern is business development director for Indaver UK and Ireland, the private sector investor behind the Becon Consortium. He said: “We are delighted to have accepted this connection offer as it represents another significant step in realising the value of this important infrastructure project for the arc21 council area and Northern Ireland as a whole.”
Mr Ahern added: “The electricity connection specifically will contribute over 50,000 MWh per year towards Northern Ireland’s renewable energy targets.
“This in turn will reduce our reliance on imported fossil fuels and enhance our security of supply.”
Grid
The grid connection for the planned installation will facilitate an export capacity of 18.1MW, the project’s developers say.
They estimate this will contribute over 50,000 MWh per year towards renewable energy targets, while ‘enhancing’ Northern Ireland’s security of supply and increasing the diversity of energy production in pursuit of climate change and net zero carbon targets.
Mallusk
The umbrella waste management group for six local authorities in the east of Northern Ireland, arc21 hopes to build a £240 million energy from waste (EfW) facility in Mallusk, north Belfast.
The development was first proposed in March 2013 (see letsrecycle.com story), but has faced a string of delays, including having its previous planning approval deemed unlawful by a High Court judge in 2018.
Mrs Justice Keegan backed claims a senior civil servant did not have legal power to give the green light for the major waste disposal facility at Hightown Quarry in Mallusk following the collapse of the Northern Ireland Assembly (see letsrecycle.com story).
The proposed facility consists of a mechanical biological treatment building, a 220,000 tonnes per annum EfW plant and a visitor centre.
Register for free to comment