In the UK, waste management and recycling firm Viridor Ltd and Tees Valley Energy Recovery Ltd (TVERL) have announced that financial close has been reached on the Tees Valley Energy Recovery Facility (TVERF). The signing of contracts, worth £2 billion (≈ €2.3 billion) over 29 years, marks a key milestone towards delivering a safe, reliable, and sustainable long-term solution for treating residual waste in the North-East.
TVERF is a public-private partnership (PPP) infrastructure project, which will allow seven partner councils (Darlington, Durham, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Redcar & Cleveland, and Stockton) to have full control over the management of residual waste – the waste left over after recycling from across the region.
The partnership will ensure this waste is safely treated into the future, alongside efforts to reduce, reuse, and recycle as much material as possible.
Expected to be operational from 2030, TVERF will be a state-of-the-art two-line facility, capable of processing around 450,000 tonnes of residual waste per annum.
The 49.9 MWe facility power plant will supply baseload electricity for the local electricity grid. It is being built on disused industrial land at Teesworks in Redcar, supporting regeneration of the area, while creating new local employment opportunities.
Today, we are celebrating the fact that Tees Valley Energy Recovery Facility has reached financial close and will join the growing Viridor EfW fleet. This project underpins our continued ambition to offer a scalable, safe, and long-term solution to manage residual waste, while generating power for the local grid, said Richard Belfield, Group Development Director at Viridor.
Aligned with zero-waste goals
The seven partner authorities are each represented on the board of a Special Purpose Vehicle company, TVERL, which has contracted with Viridor to design, build, finance, and operate the energy recovery facility.
We are very proud to reach the delivery phase of this critical infrastructure project for the North-East, which will provide a safe, reliable, sustainable and affordable solution for the waste left over after recycling and re-using as much as we can, said Denise McGuckin, Chief Executive of Hartlepool Borough Council on behalf of the partner authorities.
This milestone is a significant step forward for the project, which will serve more than 1.5 million people living and working across the North-East of the UK, by providing a sustainable, safe, and reliable solution for treating the region’s waste left over after recycling.
Importantly, this will help the partner authorities move towards their shared goal of sending zero waste to landfill.
We are delighted to partner with Viridor, which is a highly experienced operator of UK energy recovery infrastructure, and we look forward to working with them to deliver, not just this vital facility, but a wider range of benefits – including employment, training, and economic opportunities – to the communities we serve, Denise McGuckin added.
Kanadevia Inova selected as EPC contractor
Construction is due to begin later this year, with Kanadevia Inova selected as the Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) contractor on the project.
Viridor and Kanadevia Inova have a strong relationship, working together on several projects, including most recently Thameside ERF in the Port of Tilbury, Essex, and Westfield ERF in Fife, Scotland.
Development of the TVERF will take Viridor’s Energy from Waste fleet to 13 facilities across England, Scotland, and Wales.
Viridor is proud to be working with the seven councils and Kanadevia Inova as we progress this project. The plant will provide local jobs and economic regeneration, as well as being a responsible neighbour to the local community and the wider region, remarked Richard Belfield.
State-of-the-art heat-ready plant
The plant will utilise Kanadevia Inova’s air-cooled grate and highly efficient flue gas treatment systems.
It will also be capable of exporting heat via district heating networks to current and future industrial businesses on the wider Teesworks site, with additional Carbon Capture technology being kept under consideration by Viridor and the partner authorities.
The Kanadevia Inova team is delighted to have signed another EPC contract with Viridor and, with Notice to Proceed being granted, we look forward to starting full construction works on the Tees Valley Energy Recovery Facility. Once the construction and commissioning phases are completed, this highly efficient facility will safely treat residual waste as a valuable resource to generate vital baseload energy, which will power homes and neighbouring businesses for many years to come, said Fabio Dinale, EVP of Business Development at Kanadevia Inova.
Under the terms of the procurement specified by the partner authorities, Viridor has committed to delivering an extensive package of community benefits over the life of the contract, which includes supporting hundreds of jobs during construction and the creation of 50 full-time, skilled roles once the plant is operational, along with training and supply-chain opportunities.
Viridor also plans to extend its WeShare Community Fund to support initiatives and projects that matter most to residents in the local area.
