Ineos to proceed with Manchester waste-to-energy plant

Runcorn, UK - Ineos ChlorVinyls is to go ahead with construction of its energy-from-waste CHP plant at Weston Point, Runcorn, Cheshire, having secured the necessary funding for the project. The decision follows an announcement that Viridor Laing (Greater Manchester) Ltd had achieved financial close on the Private Finance Initiative waste and recycling contract with Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority.

The CHP plant is a key component of the contract with Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority. Planning permission for the facility was granted by the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform in September 2008, following an extensive public consultation.

Under the contract Viridor Laing will manage the 1.3 million tonnes of municipal waste generated by Greater Manchester each year through integrated waste management solutions including recycling services, composting, mechanical biological treatment and anaerobic digestion.

The Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF) produced from municipal waste that cannot be recycled will be supplied to the Energy from Waste CHP plant at Runcorn, which will produce heat and power for the neighbouring INEOS chemical manufacturing operations at Runcorn Site.

Construction of the civil infrastructure for the CHP plant is expected to commence in Q309, with construction activity on phase one of the main development to begin in the summer of 2010. Phase two of the development will be constructed when further contracts for SRF can be secured from other waste disposal authorities in the North West region, said Ineos.

Total construction costs for both phases are expected to be in the region of £400 million, with the plant scheduled to begin providing heat and power to Ineos at Runcorn Site by early 2013. The capacity of the energy-from-waste plant is expected to be 750,000 tonnes of SRF, which will generate around 100MW of electricity and heat - around 20% of Runcorn Site's total energy demand.

"The new plant is vital to our business in that it will allow us to move away from being completely reliant upon very expensive gas to produce the electricity and steam we need to power our site," said Chris Tane, CEO INEOS ChlorVinyls. "Rising energy costs continue to put significant pressure on our business and this project, when completed, will help to protect the long-term viability of the Runcorn Site operations in addition to playing a vital part in the North West's waste management strategy."