Wheelabrator looks to develop Skelton Grange EfW

Energy from waste specialist Wheelabrator has announced that it is taking over plans to develop an energy recovery facility at Skelton Grange near Leeds.Plans had previously been put in place for a 300,000 tonnes per-year facility to be built at the site by the waste management company Biffa, approved in 2013, but the development did not progress.Plans were drawn up for an energy from waste plant to be built at the Skelton Grange site in 2010, but these are to be redrawn by WheelabratorWheelabrator yesterday (29 May) announced that it has secured the rights to purchase 19.5 acres of land at the location, from the property developer the Harworth Group.New proposalThrough its SSE joint-venture Multifuel Energy Limited, Wheelabrator said it intends to submit plans to vary the planning application for the site to increase the capacity of the proposed facility up to 410,000 tonnes per year. Financial close for the project is targeted for mid-2020.BeauparcAn agreement has also been signed with the Irish-owned waste management company Beauparc to act as the sole supplier to the facility.Aerial image of the Ferrybridge Multifuel 1 facilityThe new facility would complement Wheelabrator’s existing plant at Ferrybridge in West Yorkshire, which is operated through Multifuel Energy joint venture and has a capacity to treat up to 675,000 tonnes per year of residual waste. A second plant with a similar capacity is under development at the site, with hot commissioning expected to commence this summer.Wheelabrator is also bringing forward plans to develop a plant near Andover in Hampshire, which could be operational by the middle of the next decade, as well as a facility in North Wales, which is also expected to begin commissioning in the coming months.