Enfinium had issued a plan to decarbonise the huge Ferrybridge 1 and 2 energy-from-waste (EfW) plants using carbon capture and storage (CCS).
It said the site was the UK’s largest EfW, and the scheme had been designated a ‘project of national significance’ by energy secretary Claire Coutinho, meaning she will make the final decision rather than the local authority.
Chief executive Mike Maudsley said: “This designation is an important step in realising our ambition to turn Ferrybridge into one of Europe’s biggest carbon removal projects.
“Carbon capture at Ferrybridge will deliver jobs in the green economy, decarbonise unrecyclable waste produced across the north of England and support West Yorkshire’s plans to have a net-zero economy by 2038.»
According to Enfinium, CCS could result in more than 1.2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide being captured every year, of which around 600,000 tonnes would be ‘carbon removals’ from biogenic waste, with the rest from inorganic waste being deemed carbon neutral.
The two facilities in Knottingley, West Yorkshire, handle more than 1.4 million tonnes a year of residual waste.
Coutinho said the work has been designated a nationally significant because it “would provide and support the decarbonisation of the largest EfW site in the UK, with the potential to deliver over a million tonnes of CO2 savings per annum, equating to 6.5% of the Government’s annual CCS ambition”.
EfW firm Cory said this month that it would submit a development consent order, required for ‘Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects’, for a CCS plant capable of removing more than a million tonnes of CO2 a year from its Riverside EfW plant in east London.
Chief executive Dougie Sutherland told MRW said he was confident they would have CCS up and running by 2030.
Fuente: MRW Magazine