Deeside’s new £800m incinerator reaches ‘full commercial operations’

Wheelabrator, the US based firm behind an £800m incinerator on Deeside Industrial Estate said the facility has now reached full commercial operations.

Testing got underway at the Parc Adfer site in early 2019 with the first waste deliveries received in August following three years of construction.

The company posted an update on its website last week stating Parc Adfer “commenced operations in late December and will now play a critical role in the region’s environmental and energy infrastructure.”

The waste-to-energy facility is able to process up to 200,000 tonnes of non-recyclable rubbish a year taken from five local authority areas across North Wales.

The facility will divert residual waste from landfill preventing the need for export of waste to continental Europe, “reduce greenhouse gases, recycle metals that would otherwise go to landfill and generate clean, renewable baseload energy.” The Wheelabrator website.

Bob Boucher, President and CEO at Wheelabrator, said: “This is a significant accomplishment for our business and is transformational for our team in the U.K. as we commence operations at both Wheelabrator Parc Adfer, and FM2, (a second facility in West Yorkshire).

Growth in this market has been our number one strategic priority and I am proud of our team and our customers for continuing to demand and support sustainable waste management in the U.K.

Takeover of these two facilities is the result of many years of commitment, hard work and strong partnerships with our customers and the communities we operate within.”

There remains a significant capacity gap in this market, and we continue to explore opportunities to develop new waste-to-energy facilities to ensure local, sustainable waste management solutions, and provide energy security for the U.K.

With limited landfill space, high landfill taxes, high costs and increasing barriers to exporting waste to continental Europe and the need to invest in baseload electricity generation, Wheelabrator is well-positioned to unlock future opportunities to provide sustainable waste management to local communities.”

Wheelabrator was appointed in 2014 to build and operate Parc Adfer over a 25-year period under a public-private partnership (PPP) with support from the Welsh Government to serve the five local authorities that make up the North Wales Residual Waste Treatment Partnership: Conwy County Borough Council; Denbighshire County Council; Flintshire County Council; Gwynedd Council and the Isle of Anglesey County Council.

During the construction phase, around 400 people have been employed to make sure the plant is finished.

It has been estimated that it will generate enough renewable energy to power more than 30,000 homes.

A total of 34 new jobs are also set to be created ranging from plant management to operational, technical and administrative roles.

Feature Image: endswasteandbioenergy