The plant is being developed on behalf of North Yorkshire and York councils to handle residual waste from the region under a 25-year £1.4 billion PFI contract signed with AmeyCespa in 2010. The facility is expected to be fully operational during 2018. It will incorporate a mechanical biological treatment (MBT) line, a 320,000 tonnes-per-year capacity incinerator and anaerobic digestion (AD) facilities.
Construction
Earlier this month Amey revealed that the tallest part of the facility – the 70m high steel stack for the EfW proportion of the plant – had successfully been installed following a two-week process. The stack is 4m in diameter and houses two flues for each boiler line, weighing a total of 136 tonnes. This followed completion of the energy from waste boilers and AD tanks in the summer. Work on the building to house the MBT facility and cladding of the AD tanks is also being carried out. Building work on the plant initially began in March 2015, after plans for the project were given final approval by the two councils in September 2014. The project suffered a major setback in early 2013, when Defra withdrew financial backing for the facility under its waste PFI funding initiative, alongside projects in Merseyside and Bradford and Claderdale (see letsrecycle.com story). Instead, the Yorkshire authorities turned to the government’s Green Investment Bank and the European Investment Banks for financial support for the project, with over £183 million in funding secured for the facility.
Process
Commenting on the construction ‘milestone’, Mark James, head of construction from Amey, said: “This is a significant milestone in our construction programme and the facility is really coming together.
“The stack is a key element of the energy from waste process. This allows energy to be created by burning waste at a minimum of 850C, with the combustion process creating steam which in turn powers turbines to create electricity.” Ian Fielding, assistant director for waste management, waste and countryside services from North Yorkshire county council added: “I am very impressed with the good progress being made at the waste recovery park and that we’re on schedule to see it open in early 2018 when it will begin to make a real difference to the way we process waste.” Neil Ferris, director of City and Environmental Services at City of York council also commented: “The facility will enable us to harness waste as a source of energy. The on-site education centre will also help raise awareness of how we can all play a part in reducing the amount of waste we produce.”
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