The £80 million facility is being developed by renewable energy firm Biossence East London Ltd in Dagenham and will be able to handle 100,000 tonnes of waste a year once operational in 2013, producing around 19 megawatts of energy.
Shanks runs these facilities under a 25 year PFI contract with the East London Waste Authority – which is responsible for waste from the London boroughs of Barking and Dagenham, Havering, Newham and Redbridge (see letsrecycle.com story).
The gasification plant is expected to create 25 permanent skilled jobs as well as up to 100 construction jobs during the building works. The site has been bought from Ford Motor Company which will benefit from the energy generated by the facility, the majority of which will be exported to the National Grid.
Mayor Boris Johnson said: “This will be a fantastic facility taking our everyday rubbish and miraculously transforming it into a valuable resource – electricity. Local people can rest easy knowing that instead of any rubbish they are unable to recycle being dumped in a landfill site and emitting harmful greenhouse gas emissions, it will be used to power their homes with green energy. “
Stefan Doeblin, director of Biossence East London, said: “We are delighted to welcome the Mayor of London to the Biossence East London site today to mark the conclusion of this loan agreement. We are encouraged to progress the development of this exciting advanced gasification facility given the support of London Waste and Recycling Board, Shanks and Ford.
“This, together with subsequent projects that we are seeking to develop, would make a significant contribution towards the UK's renewable energy targets.”
Gasification
The gasification plant will work by taking residual household rubbish and breaking it down through thermal and chemical processes to create a synthetic gas fuel which is then used to generate electricity.
The London Waste and Recycling Board (LWaRB) has agreed a £8.9million loan to Biossence East London Ltd, some of which has been used to secure the site and complete preparation work. The board was originally going to loan the firm £12 million, but had to cut the amount in September 2010 due to reductions in its own budget (see letsrecycle.com story).
James Cleverly, chair of LWaRB, said: “The Biossence plant perfectly demonstrates how waste can be used as a resource and it will make a valuable contribution to sustainable waste management in the capital. Not only will it help divert waste from landfill, cut carbon emissions and generate renewable energy, it will also create permanent skilled jobs.”
LWaRB has committed more than £30.5 million to various waste, recycling and reuse projects across London, to improve waste management in the capital. Projects include: Trinity, a furniture reuse programme; the Board's consumer campaign Recycle for London; FareShare, a community food network, Bioregional, a construction material reuse project; a flats recycling programme; TEG, London's first Anaerobic Digestion plant; and GreenTech a plastic recycling facility.
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