Waste energy set to go live
A PART-PFI funded £70m green energy from waste plant at Haverton Hill will go live within weeks.
Commissioning tests have begun on SITA UK’s extension to its plant, which will create 24 jobs on Teesside.
The extension will produce 10MW of electricity - enough to supply the power to 12,000 homes - and divert an extra 136,000t of waste from landfill each year.
The new project, together with a £12m recycling facility in Northumberland, will ensure just 8% of Northumberland’s waste goes to landfill by 2012.
Under the PFI contract, signed with Northumberland County Council in 2006, the Haverton Hill facility will handle 110,000t of waste, rising to 130,000t.
The contract is worth up to £550m to SITA UK over 28 years with the Government providing PFI credits of £40.8m to the county council.
In the meantime, SITA UK will sell the spare capacity to other councils or commercial customers at market prices.
A spokesperson for SITA UK said the rising cost of landfill was making energy from waste a more viable option.
“It’s becoming more economic for councils and businesses to use Energy from Waste plants.
“The four local authorities in the Tees Valley have been doing it for the last 20 years.
“There is less and less landfill available. This is a natural alternative.”
