Energy-from-waste firm Wheelabrator Technologies Inc. (Wheelabrator) has submitted a planning application to Flintshire County Council for a 200,000 tonne energy recovery facility in North Wales.

Wheelabrator was chosen as Preferred Bidder for the North Wales Residual Waste Treatment Project (NWRWTP) in April.

A public consultation on the proposed incinerator, set for a former steelworks site on the Deeside Industrial Park near Connah’s Quay, was launched the following month to ‘help the team refine and improve its plans’, and these have now been finalised and issued to Flintshire County Council for approval.

If approved by the council, construction will begin on the Parc Adfer (Recover Park) incinerator this year, with the facility entering operation in 2018.

It will process non-recyclable household waste from residents in the Isle of Anglesey, Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire and Gwynedd County Councils into 16 megawatts of electricity (enough to power 30,000 homes) for 25 years.

A ‘limited amount’ of capacity for commercial and industrial waste will also be available, and the development team is reportedly assessing options for supplying waste heat from the facility (in the form of piped steam), to nearby industrial or commercial 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.

Speaking of the submission, Gary Aguinaga, Wheelabrator’s Managing Director for UK and Europe, said: “This is another significant milestone for Wheelabrator and brings the creation of a sustainable, long-term solution to managing residual waste in North Wales a step closer.

“Wheelabrator’s UK operations are growing at pace, with several new projects now at different stages of either planning or construction. These facilities create benefits in many areas - not only will they help us divert more non-recyclable waste from landfill but they will also create jobs, boost supply chain businesses and create more energy security for thousands of UK homes and businesses.”

Incineration fears

The NWRWTP authorities have said that they had ‘confidence’ in the safety and performance of the ‘proven technology that Wheelabrator will be using’, however, the long-term incineration plan has caused concern with some local councillors and residents who believe that emissions from the incinerator could cause health problems.

Deputy Council Leader Bernie Attridge for Connah’s Quay, said: “I have significant concerns for the health and wellbeing of the residents of Deeside. I will continue to press for absolute assurances over the impact of emissions.”

Further fears centre on the growing overcapacity of incinerators in relation to falling residual waste figures.

Concerns of the UK and Europe’s preference for long-term incineration contracts have also mounted recently, as both Eunomia and the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives have released reports on overcapacity, the latter stating that the numbers of incinerators in the UK and EU have the capacity to burn ‘more than the non-recyclable waste generated’ and could ‘threaten’ recycling rates as recyclable material would be needed to ‘feed’ the plants.

Newhurst energy recovery facility

The planning submission for Parc Adfer comes just weeks after Wheelabrator announced it had signed an agreement with Biffa to work together on the development of a new 350,000 tonne energy recovery facility on the site of the former Newhurst Quarry at Shepshed in Leicestershire.

The Newhurst project is being progressed by WTI through Multifuel Energy Ltd (MEL), its joint venture partnership with SSE plc.

Its plans to build an incinerator in Kings Lynn, Norfolk fell through earlier this year when Norfolk County Council decided to abandon its contract with Wheelabrator (after Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Eric Pickles delayed his decision on the planning application indefinitely), costing the council more than £30 million, and leaving it without a long-term residual waste treatment project.

WTI was sold by Waste Management Inc to an affiliate of Energy Capital Partners for $1.94 billion (£1.2 billion) cash.

Find out more about the Parc Adfer project.