Gasification Facility Given Go-Ahead in Tees Valley, UK

11 August 2011 Surrey, UK based gasification technology supplier, Air Products PLC has secured planning permission from Stockton on Tees Borough Council for its Tees Valley Renewable Energy Facility. According to the company, the facility is the first of a number of waste to energy plants that Air Products will be looking to develop in the UK over the next few years. The gasification Waste to Energy (WtE) scheme will convert pre-processed household and commercial waste, that the company says is currently going to landfill, into renewable baseload power for up to 50,000 homes in the North East. The facility is planned to produce 49 MW of electricity, and process 300,000 tonnes of waste per year, which according to Air Products makes it one of the largest advanced gasification projects planned for the UK. Energy and Climate Change Minister Greg Barker said: "This new technology will be an exciting addition to the energy from waste sector and I look forward to seeing the announcement of more of these projects." Alberta, Canada based AlterNRG has partnered with Air Products on the project, and will supply its Westinghouse gasification solution to the facility, that it says has been used to treat waste for 15 years. Air Products says that it hopes to build up to five advanced gasification plants in the UK in the coming years, amounting to an investment of more than £1bn and with the potential to generate around 250 MW of electricity. The company has taken the project through the planning process in close collaboration with the site's owners, Impetus Waste Management, and their planning and environmental consultant, Atkins. Subject to the financing of the project given current support mechanisms and securing environmental permitting consent from the Environment Agency, work on site could start next year, with commercial operations starting in 2014. Sign up for Waste Management World's Free E-Mail Newsletters