Plumbing & Central Heating Spares, Servicing, Maintenance, Energy Efficient Replacement Boilers
Last month, French waste management company Veolia announced that its portfolio of 10 energy from waste (EfW) plants generated almost twice as much electricity as UK wind power. This was discovered during a study back in July, conducted over a fourteen hour period. Nearly 25% more energy was produced by the facilities than from wind power, delivering 111 megawatts electrical (MWe), against the total wind generation of 58 MWe at one point. [Output power obtained as electricity is measured as MWe]. This offers some relief for this type of company in the light of criticism about the EfW process.
Criticism has been levelled at EfW by the Climate Change Committee, who have urged the government to address “rising emissions” from EfW plants. Veolia says it “already takes pressure off the stretched UK grid as a reliable and secure source of low carbon energy”, with its combined generating capacity of 180MWe.
Veolia states that as “the first operator in the UK” to achieve the R1 standard for its EfW plants, it’s facilities can process and transform into electricity, approx 2.3 million tonnes of non-recyclable waste serving over 400,000 homes.
“Each year these facilities reliably add to energy security by generating around 1.4 Terawatt-hour (TWh) of electricity through the treatment of non-recyclable waste. They have also shown their “key role in safely tackling Covid-related wastes by treating the 15% increase in orange bagged clinical and infectious materials”.
Chief operating officer for treatment at Veolia, Donald Macphail said: “Access to affordable, reliable, and sustainable energy is key to supporting communities and businesses, and is linked to fuel poverty and carbon emissions. To virtually eliminate waste and produce secure energy in its place is a win-win situation, generating green electricity and heat, reducing landfill, and achieving greater sustainability.”
Companies like Veolia rely on the services of processing plant engineers such as Brookshaw Stuart to ensure efficiency and reliability. This is only one of the areas that Brookshaw Stuart have expertise in, take a look at their many other services.