Wheelabrator looks to develop Skelton Grange EfW

Plans had previously been put in place for a 300,000 tonnes per-year facility to be built at the site by the waste management company Biffa, approved in 2013, but the development did not progress.

Wheelabrator yesterday (29 May) announced that it has secured the rights to purchase 19.5 acres of land at the location, from the property developer the Harworth Group.

New proposal

Through its SSE joint-venture Multifuel Energy Limited, Wheelabrator said it intends to submit plans to vary the planning application for the site to increase the capacity of the proposed facility up to 410,000 tonnes per year. Financial close for the project is targeted for mid-2020.

Paul Green, vice president of business development for Wheelabrator, said: “Acquiring nearly 20 acres at Skelton Grange to create another energy-from-waste site is another major milestone for Wheelabrator.

“We remain committed to investing in new long-term waste infrastructure in the UK – building and operating new energy-from-waste facilities that divert residential and business waste from landfill and produce renewable baseload energy for the local communities in which we operate.”

Beauparc

An agreement has also been signed with the Irish-owned waste management company Beauparc to act as the sole supplier to the facility.

Brian McCabe, managing director of Beauparc, said: “We are excited to be the sole fuel supplier and part of this new development that enables us to enhance and expand our activities close to the M62 corridor whilst also continuing to supply fuel to the Ferrybridge 1 energy-from-waste facility.”

The new facility would complement Wheelabrator’s existing plant at Ferrybridge in West Yorkshire, which is operated through Multifuel Energy joint venture and has a capacity to treat up to 675,000 tonnes per year of residual waste. A second plant with a similar capacity is under development at the site, with hot commissioning expected to commence this summer.

Wheelabrator is also bringing forward plans to develop a plant near Andover in Hampshire, which could be operational by the middle of the next decade, as well as a facility in North Wales, which is also expected to begin commissioning in the coming months.