Wheelabrator Technologies has announced today, 20 February, that it will “no longer proceed” with plans for a 500,000 tonne per year capacity energy from waste (EfW) plant in Hampshire.
The follows a ‘strategic review’ the US-owned company undertook, where Wheelabrator “decided to focus efforts on further advanced waste-to-energy projects”.
The initial design of the plant was criticised by residents- Wheelabrator submitted two new designs afterwards (seen below)
In November 2019, Wheelabrator Technologies launched a public consultation on the proposed plant, which was to be based at the A303 Enviropark, six miles east of Andover on land owned by Raymond Brown Waste Solutions (see letsrecycle.com story).
However, the company has now taken the step of withdrawing its plans.
Wheelabrator Technologies vice president for business development, Paul Green, said: “The UK waste-to-energy market is extremely buoyant with significant capacity gaps remaining in the residual waste management infrastructure.
“Having undertaken a strategic review of the wide range of opportunities in our current pipeline, we have decided to focus our efforts on further advanced waste-to-energy projects, and as such, will no longer continue to invest in the development of the Wheelabrator Harewood waste-to-energy facility.
“Wheelabrator would like to thank everyone who took the time to provide feedback as part of our recent community consultations.”
Nationally significant
The EfW was also deemed to be a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) and required a Development Consent Order (DCO) – issued on behalf of the Secretary of State by the Planning Inspectorate.
The first consultations with local residents took place in March 2019, soon after plans for the plant were unveiled. After criticism, Wheelabrator changed parts of this, including the overall height of both the building itself and the stacks. The below two artist impressions were submitted.
The two new designs went before the public in November 2019
However, this has now been withdrawn before the consultation results were published.
Pipeline
The company added in its statement today that Wheelabrator “remains committed to developing, delivering and operating” EfW facilities in the UK “preventing the need for export of waste to Europe”.
Wheelabrator is major player in the UK EfW market, and the Ferrybridge Multifuel 2 (FM2) plant recently became fully operational last year (see letsrecycle.com story).
“We have decided to focus our efforts on further advanced waste-to-energy projects”
The £325 million facility was developed jointly by Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) and Wheelabrator Technologies under the name of Multifuel Energy.
Other projects include plants in Kemsley North in Sittingbourne, Kent, located adjacent to Wheelabrator’s Kemsley (K3) facility, and Skelton Grange in Yorkshire, less than 15 miles from Ferrybridge 1 and 2.
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Source: letsrecycle.com Waste Managment
