Planning consent for latest phase of £50m Deeside waste energy plant

The proposed Deeside plant

Bioscience energy company EQTEC, has secured planning consent for an advanced gasification facility deploying its technology at its Deeside Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) project with partner, Logik Developments.

Flintshire County Council’s planning committee granted planning permission for the proposed 9.9MWe plant to enable a complete and local waste-to energy solution, combining a 182,000 tonne waste reception plant along with anaerobic digestion (AD) and EQTEC advanced gasification technology.

The planning authority’s decision follows its prior approval of the site for the original plan of a recycling and AD facility.

The additional phase 2 permission creates an enhanced integrated waste-to-energy solution, one that is more environmentally friendly and economically efficient than legacy alternatives, to directly address the challenges of waste reduction and the need for clean energy, while also creating local jobs. The project supports Flintshire County Council’s ambitions to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2030 and its overarching climate change agenda.

EQTEC has also announced it has entered into a co-operation agreement, through Logik WTE, with Anaergia Inc to develop a proposal for the delivery of the multi-technology waste-to-energy project at Deeside.

Under the agreement, Anaergia will develop the engineering design for both the waste processing facility and the AD plant.

The processing facility will take the waste and produce the required standard of RDF fuel for EQTEC’s advanced gasification technology employed at the plant. It will also use Anaergia’s extrusion press to recover organics from the waste, which will be processed in Anaergia’s AD plant to produce renewable natural gas (RNG) that will be injected into the national gas grid.

Anaergia has deferred the majority of its fees for the front-end engineering and design until financial close, to further demonstrate its commitment in the project and partnership.

The Deeside RDF Project will have the capacity to receive and sort around 182,000 tonnes of waste per year, comprising approximately 60% municipal solid waste and 40% commercial and industrial waste. Under the new planning permission, a larger proportion of the waste will now be used to make green energy, as the RDF portion of the sorted waste, which would typically be destined for landfill or incineration, can now be used and transformed into green electricity.

In March this year, EQTEC announced it had entered a three-year deal with car maker Toyota. Both parties are exploring an innovative, circular and sustainable waste-to-energy solution for Toyota’s engine manufacturing plant in Deeside. Solutions could include establishing a supply to the Toyota engine manufacturing site of green bio-methane gas and green electricity, as well as potential conversion of manufacturing waste through the sharing of cost data, energy usage and other information.

David Palumbo, EQTEC CEO, said: “We are delighted by the resolution to grant planning consent for the RDF project at Deeside, with our technology enhancing the existing permission for recycling and anaerobic digestion facilities, to achieve better environmental profile than other waste-to-energy methods.

“This milestone underlines the significance of EQTEC’s advanced gasification technology for reducing waste, producing green energy, powering local industry and communities, and generating local jobs.

“This decision paves the way for us to formalise our agreement with Anaergia, with appetite and synergies between the two parties to replicate this type of project configuration on other plants in the UK and potentially worldwide.

“It will also accelerate our partnership with Toyota, taking us a step closer to delivering a localised and environmentally-friendly waste-to-energy plant for the area around Deeside. Our advanced gasification is not a concept technology for the future but a proven solution for today’s challenges of waste management and clean energy generation.”

Neil Spencer, of Logik Developments, said: “We are delighted that we have now received a resolution for planning consent for EQTEC’s gasification technology at Deeside and it is a great achievement for the team at Logik and their sister company, MBS Partnership, who have worked tirelessly to make this happen.”

Martin Hopkins, managing director of Anaergia UK, said: “This project offers a great model for the UK waste industry and aligns closely with our mission to convert waste into useful resources, protect the environment, and sustain life for generations to come. We look forward to the opportunity to combine Anaergia’s organics industry-leading recovery and processing technologies with EQTEC’s advanced gasification expertise at the Deeside facility.”

EQTEC is lead developer and technology provider for the Deeside RDF project, delivering the plant in partnership with Logik Developments. The Deeside RDF project is one of three RDF-to-energy projects that the company is developing, including at Billingham, Teesside and Southport, Merseyside.

The site is on 6.27 hectares of land on Deeside Industrial Estate and was formerly a Gaz de France power station.

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