Bioenergy & Waste News

Wednesday 29 April 2009

An impression of the proposed Bredbury Park Way site, where Enpure will install anaerobic digestion systems to generate biogas and renewable electricity

West Midlands process engineering specialist Enpure has been awarded a £60 million contract to supply technology to turn waste into energy in Manchester.

The contract was awarded by construction firm Costain Ltd, one of the main contractors for the multi-billion pound Manchester waste Private Finance Initiative contract led by waste firm Viridor.

Enpure will supply waste processing infrastructure to handle 173,000 tonnes of Manchester's waste each year, turning some into a solid fuel, with an organic fraction going into two anaerobic digestion facilities.

Two sites are identified for the facilities, with a £30 million plant proposed for Bredbury Park Way - an industrial park by the M60 just north of Stockport - and a £20 million plant set for a site on Reliance Street, which is a little further north between Manchester and Oldham.

Technology

The facilities will use mechanical biological treatment (MBT) technology, which involves both a physical separation of recyclable materials and biological action, taking the form of anaerobic digestion.

The organic fraction of the waste will be put through the digestion facilities, where microbes will break the material down into a biogas and a solid residue.

The methane-rich biogas will be used to generate around 5MW of electricity through a combined heat and power combustion system.

The solid residues from the process will be used as a solid, refuse-derived fuel.

Commenting on the contract win, Enpure managing director Malcolm Wilkinson said: "We are delighted to be involve in this prestigious waste contract, utilising our proven MBT technology and project delivery expertise."

Enpure, which is based in Woodgate, near Birmingham, started out specialising in the processing of materials from the water industry, before expanding into the waste management sector in the year 2000.

Manchester

Viridor, part of water and waste company Pennon Group, signed its £3.8 billion waste management contract with the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority earlier this month. The deal is being run in a consortium with infrastructure firm John Laing plc.

The 25-year contract will require £640 million of new waste processing infrastructure to be developed over the next five years.

Solid fuel produced from the waste is currently in line to be used at the giant Ineos Chlor energy-from-waste plant planned for Runcorn, Cheshire. Chemicals produced Ineos won consent for its £300 million proposal back in September last year (see this New Energy Focus story).

Viridor managing director Mike Hellings said: "Throughout history Greater Manchester has been at the forefront of new technologies and this tradition now continues with a sustainable waste management solution worthy of its engineering heritage."