The waste management company said yesterday (15 February) that it generated 856 GWh of electricity using a combination of biomass, landfill gas, biogas and energy recovery facilities. This, according to Veolia, is able to supply a secure annual equivalent to power 240,000 homes. It is also “six times the energy used across 400 offices and sites across the UK”.
Veolia added that the electricity exported to the grid adds to the 2.5 terawatt-hour (TWh) of “combined heat and power, low carbon and renewable generation” that serves around 500 commercial customers.
This output includes the use biogas, biomass, and solar sources which save around 200,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions each year for Veolia’s customers, the company added.
Veolia also said it can provide heat for around 120,000 homes through it’s district heating schemes. This helps “lower carbon emissions and can help reduce cost and fuel poverty in vulnerable groups.”
‘Investment’
Gavin Graveson, Veolia’s senior executive vice president for Northern Europe, said: “Energy market volatility, and the ability to deliver stable power has highlighted the importance of reliable sources of energy that can support our modern lives and the UK power infrastructure. By actively developing renewable and low carbon generation we can already produce the affordable and sustainable energy that is essential to support communities and businesses.
“As more baseload generators such as nuclear, coal and CCGTs retire, stable renewable sources are set to play an increasingly important role as demand increases with population growth, adoption of electric vehicles, electricity to heat homes, and increased demand of the rapidly expanding internet of things. We are already demonstrating what can be achieved today to secure sustainable independent power for the UK, but to accelerate this development the UK now needs to act on the incentives for investment in decarbonisation, and realise the net zero future for power.”
Energy
Veolia has ten energy recovery plants in its portfolio, as well as biomass plants and a string of other waste facilities which can generate electricity.
This has meant the company is able to benefit from the recent rise in wholesale electricity prices. In August 2022, the company announced that it’s UK revenues grew by 11.8% in the first half of 2022, which the French company put down to higher electricity and recyclate prices and “commercial momentum” (see letsrecycle.com story).
The company also records low downtime at its facilities, claiming to have had plants online 96% of the time in 2021 (see letsrecycle.com story). Veolia said at the time that its EfW portfolio generated enough power to generate 460,000 homes in 2021. This figure related to overall electricity generated, while yesterday’s release was referring to renewable energy only.
Yesterday’s figure of 240,000 homes only included half of the power from EfW portfolio, because it is technically ‘partly renewable’.
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