The facility would burn up to 274,000 tonnes a year of refuse derived fuel (RDF) to produce electricity and heat.
The Environment Agency is holding a public consultation on the company’s application, running from 24 July to 19 October.
John Neville, area environment manager at the Environment Agency, said: “Our officers have the specialist knowledge and skills that are required to regulate waste facilities and minimise the impact of these sites on people and the environment.
“We do not permit activities that pose an unacceptable risk.
“We will now assess the proposals to ensure they meet our strict requirements and we welcome comments from the public and interested groups on local environmental factors that people feel are important.”
Process
According to Fortum’s application, the plant will comprise a waste reception, waste storage, water, fuel, oil and air supply systems, a furnace, a boiler, a steam turbine/generator set, facilities for the treatment of exhaust gases, on-site facilities for treatment or storage of residues and waste water, a 70-metre high flue stack, and devices and systems for controlling combustion operations and recording and monitoring conditions.
“We will now assess the proposals to ensure they meet our strict requirements”
RDF will be delivered to the facility and unloaded into the waste bunker. It will then be transferred from the waste bunker into the feed hopper for the waste incineration plant.
Emissions of nitrous oxides would be controlled by the injection of ammonia solution into the combustion chamber, Fortum’s application says. Hot gases from the waste combustion would be passed through a boiler to raise steam. The steam would then be passed to a steam turbine to generate electricity for export to nearby users and the National Grid, with the potential to export heat to locals.
The combustion gases would be cleaned in a flue gas treatment plant. This would include the injection of carbon, primarily to control dioxin emissions, the injection of lime to control acid gas emissions, and the use of a fabric filter to remove dust. The cleaned exhaust gases would be released to atmosphere via the 70-metre stack.
If it goes ahead and the RDF is sourced from the UK, the plant is likely to further dent UK exports of RDF, which have been declining.
Consultation
The Environment Agency says it is seeking views on the company’s application from the local community and interested groups.
Information received during the consultation will be used to help determine the application as part of a detailed and rigorous assessment of the proposed operation, the Agency says.
A permit will only be issued if the operator demonstrates that it meets all legal requirements of the Environment Permitting Regulations and that the facility will be operated in a way that provides a high level of protection to the environment and human health.
Application documents can be viewed here.
Facility
In October 2016 Cumbria county council granted planning approval for a 225,000 tonnes-per-year capacity gasification EfW plant in Carlisle, to be developed by consortium of companies including Fortum Carlisle Limited, Kingmoor Park Properties and Verus Energy Ltd (see letsrecycle.com story).
The consortium had hoped for the plant to be operational in 2019.
Fortum
Fortum Carlisle Limited is a UK subsidiary of the Finnish energy supplier Fortum.
When contacted by letsrecycle.com, a spokesperson for Fortum said the project was still at an early development stage and no investment decision had been made.
When an investment decision is taken they will inform the market, they said.
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