Devon county council and its waste disposal contractor Viridor have signed a deal which paves the way for the Taunton-based company to oversee the development of a 45 million energy-from-waste incinerator in Exeter.
The agreement announced today (July) is a modification order to the county councils existing disposal contract and means 60,000 tonnes-a-year of residual household waste generated in and around Exeter will be diverted from landfill and instead sent to the new facility.
The plant will be built by French company TIRU under contract to Viridor. TIRU, which was chosen ahead of three other bidders to develop the facility, will also operate the plant for the first five years it is open from 2014, before Viridor takes over operations.
Viridor has already secured planning permission and environmental permitting for the facility, which is being built on the site of the former Exeter incinerator, on the Marsh Barton Trading Estate.
Proposals to build the plant originally emerged in 2007 (see letsrecycle.com story), but the plans prompted a dispute among Devon local authorities over how the energy produced at the facility will be used (see letsrecycle.com story).
Making todays announcement, Devon county council stressed that the facility would generate three megawatts an hour of electricity for export to the National Grid. The plant will also be designed so heat could be exported if a district heating network is established on the Marsh Barton estate.
Delighted
Councillor Roger Croad, the Cabinet Member for Environment and Community said: I am delighted we are going ahead with this facility, which will deal with the remainder of the waste after recycling and composting has taken place.
It will complement our existing services and eliminate the risk ofbeing fined for non-compliance with the Landfill Directive. This is robust, safe and clean technology with an established track record, which should give many years of reliable service.
Viridor managing director Mike Hellings added that the company was very pleased to further cement its long-standing partnership with Devon county council by working on the EfW project.
TIRUs Ian Crummack also welcomed the progress being made, explaining that the company look forward to the day when the plant starts generating energy from the waste collected in the Exeter area.
Second step
The Exeter EfW represents the second step on Devon county councils residual waste management plans, following on from its procurement of a long-term contract for the South West of the county in partnership with Torbay and Plymouth city councils.
That deal, which was procured by the councils as the South West Devon Waste Partnership, was formally awarded to German EfW specialist MVV Umwelt in March 2011. The company will now build and operate a combined heat and power EfW plant at Devonport in Plymouth (see letsrecycle.com story).
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