SSE JV starts operations at 70-MW waste-to-energy plant in UK

UK utility SSE Plc (LON:SSE) said Friday that the 70-MW Ferrybridge Multifuel 1 (FM1) waste-to-energy plant has become fully operational.

The GBP-300-million (USD 468m/EUR 426m) facility is a 50:50 joint venture between SSE and US-based Wheelabrator Technologies Inc. It is located on land next to SSE's Ferrybridge "C" coal-fired power station near Knottingley in West Yorkshire, England.

Capable of generating enough electricity to power around 160,000 homes, FM1 will use waste-derived fuels from various sources of municipal solid waste, commercial and industrial waste. The plant has now been handed over to Multifuel Energy Ltd, the joint venture company, by the main contractor, Hitachi Zosen Inova AG. The start of commercial operations comes after more than three years of construction and months of commissioning.

Multifuel Energy has a GBP-75-million off-take contract for the facility. In June, it inked a two-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with SmartestEnergy for the electricity generated.

The joint venture, meanwhile, is seeking planning consent for a second, 90-MW multifuel power station at the same site. Ferrybridge "C" is due to be closed by the end of March 2016.

(GBP 1.0 = USD 1.558/EUR 1.421)

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