Major US operator Waste Management Inc has agreed to sell Wheelabrator Technologies Inc (WTI) to an affiliate of Energy Capital Partners for $1.94 billion (£1.2 billion) in cash.
WTI owns or operates 17 energy-from-waste (EfW) facilities and four independent power-producing plants in the US that process more than 7.5 million tonnes of waste and have a combined electric generating capacity of 853 megawatts. WTI also owns four ash monofill landfills, three transfer stations and an ongoing development and construction project in the UK, which contributed to a turnover of approximately $845 million (£50.2m) in 2013.
As part of the sale, Waste Management Inc will enter into a long-term agreement to supply waste to certain WTI facilities.
“This transaction aligns with our goal of driving shareholder value by maximising our focus on our core business and reducing earnings volatility related to electricity sales”, said David P. Steiner, President and Chief Executive Officer of Waste Management. “We look forward to a long-term partnership with ECP through our waste supply agreement.”
Wheelabrator in the UK
In the UK, WTI is best known for its part in the proposed Kings Lynn Incinerator alongside Cory Environmental. Plans for the controversial incinerator were eventually dropped in April after Norfolk County Council’s Cabinet has unanimously decided to abandon its King’s Lynn incinerator contract with Cory Wheelabrator.
The company’s latest venture in the UK is in North Wales. The proposed energy recovery facility forms part of the £800-million North Wales Residual Waste Treatment Project (NWRWTP), which was established to handle non-recyclable household waste from five counties across North Wales (Conwy, Denbighshire, Gwynedd, Isle of Anglesey and Flintshire) over the next 25 years.
The incinerator, named Parc Adfer (Adfer meaning to ‘recover’ or ‘restore’ in Welsh), is set for development on a former steelworks site at Deeside Industrial Park.
If built, the proposed facility could burn up to 200,000 tonnes of non-recyclable household waste per year, generating electricity ‘equivalent to the needs of around 30,000 homes’. The facility will also create heat or steam, which could be piped to nearby users.
It is thought the project could create around 300 jobs during the construction phase and around 35 full time jobs once the facility is operational.
Consultations with the public ended at the beginning of July. Read more about Wheelabrator’s proposed incinerator plans for the NWTWP.
Waste Management’s future
Waste Management Inc has said it intends to use the net proceeds from the transaction to improve its shareholder value by acquiring assets related to the core business and repurchasing shares. The transaction is subject to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approval and other customary closing conditions, and is expected to close in late 2014.
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