PETERBOROUGH ENERGYPARK ADVANCES

 

PREL - Peterborough Renewable Energy – has unveiled its eagerly awaited plans for the development of a £250m EnergyPark and centre of excellence for renewable technologies. (see Artist’s Impression)

The plans, now being considered by the government, propose the development of just 32% of a 34 acre site in Peterborough’s Fengate partially designated for recycling and energy recovery facilities. This will provide for the introduction of extensive green spaces on the remainder of the site designed to support bird and animal life (such as Black Redstarts) into this industrial area. Sustainability is a central theme in the company’s vision.

Capable of processing up to 650,000 tonnes of mixed waste and biomass annually with the biomass fraction used to produce renewable energy.  The remainder being recycled into high value products for reuse.

The EnergyPark will have an installed process capacity of 66 megawatts (MW). Operating for 8760 hours each year it will generate over 50 Megawatt (MW) of renewable electricity produced from the biomass fraction of the waste received.  When the EnergyPark becomes operational in early 2011 it will deliver 10 per cent of the East of England’s 2010/11 renewable energy target with the production of over 430 GWh of electricity per annum.

Around 12-13 million tonnes of CO2 will be saved over 20 years making it the sustainable option to coal and gas.

The dual ability of the EnergyPark that allows 100 per cent of the material being processed to be used in a beneficial manner and with a zero residue to landfill makes the EnergyPark unique.  Nothing leaves the site that does not have a use. All material including ‘internal wastes’ are recycled or recovered.

The design philosophy also ensures most vehicles entering with waste or materials required for operation will leave with recycled and remanufactured product via the same route, which will be enhanced as part of the project.

The £250 million capital project will include a Centre of Excellence R&D facility which will enhance Peterborough’s Green City credentials with an extensive on-going operation, maintenance and research budget of £12 million per year and highly skilled jobs for over 100 employees.

Construction is anticipated to take place over 2 years and employ up to 300 people at any one time.

This zero-waste, clean biomass electricity plant has been shaped by extensive local pre-planning consultations.

The facility will stabilise long-term waste processing fees and provide carbon levy exempt power for local industry that is attached to the onsite 22kV grid, and is capable of supplying affordable power to new developments in the expanding Green City.

The site will process a proportion of the commercial and industrial waste stream produced locally in and around Peterborough.  A catchment restriction of 32km radius (circa 20 miles) from the facility and/or the county will apply and 80 per cent of any waste input will be from within this area. No mixed wastes will be burnt at the EnergyPark. 

The EnergyPark incorporates leading industry standards in both design and operation. The EnergyPark buildings are designed to high specifications, removing odour and noise potential and improving thermal efficiencies.  They are also designed to be more easily recycled at the end of their life.

The types of materials that can be recycled, recovered and manufactured at the park include, household mixed wastes, commercial and industrial wastes and elements of the construction and demolition waste sector. 

As a matter of record, the County of Cambridgeshire including imports generated 5.2 million tonnes of waste in 2006.

In their Report on 25^th September the Audit Commission warned councils that they cannot rely solely on creating less waste and recycling more if the UK can meet European Union Landfill Directive targets to reduce the amount of waste that gets dumped in landfill by 2013.

It says investment in waste disposal technologies that convert waste into energy or fuel will have the most significant impact on landfill reduction and that delays to the projects currently underway pose the greatest threat to achieving the target.

Process Description

There are four main stages to the process: separation and sorting; recycling; energy generation and reprocessing.

Separation and Sorting Recycling

The EnergyPark includes an Advanced Materials Recycling Facility (AMRF), which will take unsorted waste materials and separate out the non-biomass fraction from the biomass fraction. The biomass fraction will be processed via gasification in one of 9 biomass units to produce renewable power.  The non-biomass content is segregated into their type – metals, glass, plastics and textiles.  These materials are assessed for their ability to be recycled on site by way of plasma vitrification.  Materials such as plastics will go to secondary recyclers.

Food waste that is received from commercial sources or that which arrives already segregated will be processed by a food-waste bioreactor to produce heat and a fertiliser. 

Energy Generation

Steam boilers and turbines will be used to produce electricity, with heat derived from the combustion process being used within the facility and potentially made available in the future through dedicated systems to neighbouring users.  Cooling will use a dry and sealed process to reduce the amount of water needed / lost via evaporation.  This also removes plume issues. 

 

Each biomass power unit is served by individual material feeds. This independence allows for each stream to be taken out for routine servicing and maintenance without disruption to the operation of the facility. The by-products from this process will comprise a bed ash fertiliser, and materials from the gas cleaning systems. Bed ash derived from biomass is a useful soil enhancer/ fertiliser. Ash and residue from the gas cleaning systems (APC residues) will be reprocessed by plasma vitrification and fully recycled into finished products.

Plasma Vitrification

This is the EnergyPark’s internal waste recycling plant that takes ash and the APC residues, the glass and some metal fraction (batteries, lightbulbs etc) from the AMRF together with any other non-recyclable inorganic fraction.

The plasma chamber (not torch) turns the feedstocks in to saleable products comprising metal, glass and a range of commercial chemicals. 

Join us for the Breakfast Seminar at the Eco Innovation Centre, Peterborough on the 16 October for more information and discussion with Chris Williams, Call 01733 311644 to book your place

Ends

 Notes for Editors

1.       Further information on this Media Release and PREL are available from: Sam McCallum, McCallum Consulting on Tel: 015638 508417 email sam@mccallumconsulting.co.uk

2.       PREL’s Head Office Address is located at The Eco Innovation Centre, Peterscourt, City Road, Peterborough, PE1 1SA. Contact Telephone numbers and em

ails will be unchanged (it will continue to use 01733 348468) 

3.      The planning process for energypark Peterborough is dealt with by BERR. Consultees include Peterborough City Council among others.

 

 

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