£100m power plant scheme

Apr 24 2008 Evening Gazette

CONSULTATION has begun over plans for a £100m “energy from waste” plant in Billingham, which could create up to 40 permanent jobs.

The proposed development next to SITA UK’s existing incinerator at Haverton Hill, which is running at capacity, would use up to 256,000 tonnes of household and commercial waste created in the north of England every year and turn it into electricity for the national grid.

Output would be equivalent to supplying a town the size of Hartlepool.

A new railhead is planned to minimise traffic movements.

Graham Ingleson, general manager at the Tees Valley EfW facility, said: “This will be an important development for the North-east region and will help confirm the Tees Valley as a centre for energy recovery.

“This project represents a major investment by SITA UK in the Tees Valley and the proposal comes at a time when energy from waste is increasingly being acknowledged as a preferred method for dealing with waste that cannot be recycled or composted.”

The facility will also reduce the need for local landfill.

SITA, which is involved in renewable energy schemes across the UK, including the recovery of methane gas from waste for fuel, said it was also looking at the possibility of piping hot air from the incinerator to neighbouring businesses to help reduce their energy consumption.

A formal planning application to Stockton Council is expected this summer.