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An innovative energy recovery from waste plant on the Isle of Wight has won the Renewable Energy Project of the Year Award in the Environment and Energy Awards 2009.
The project, by UK-based Energos, is the first fully developed gasification plant in the UK to operate on a municipal waste stream and it is the first time that advanced thermal conversion technology has been applied in this way. The recently opened plant is part of the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affair’s New Technology Demonstrator Programme.
This advanced low-emission technology generates 2.3MW of green electricity from residual, non-recyclable waste, enough to power more than 3,000 homes. The plant receives residual waste from an established Resource Recovery Facility, operated by Biffa subsidiary Island Waste Services, the Isle of Wight Council’s integrated waste management contractor.
Commenting on the project, judges from the Energy Institute, said: “This is a very interesting project and good example of a new type of opportunity where there is a need for a pragmatic solution to solving waste disposal problems”.
The awards, organised by Faversham House Group, saw the best of green industry rewarded for their initiative and environmental thinking throughout the last year. Winners were announced at a ceremony as part of Sustainabilitylive at the National Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham.
Energos, part of sustainable power group ENER-G (www.energ.co.uk), offers a clean energy recovery from waste solution that provides a best practice alternative to mass-burn incineration and a commercially proven and bankable alternative to landfill.
Receiving the award, Tony Grimshaw, Technical Director for Energos, said: “We are leading the development of a new generation of small scale, environmentally friendly energy from waste plants that can exist at the heart of a community and complement local recycling initiatives. Our intention is to help communities to become self sufficient in responsibly managing their own waste and generating both renewable heat and electricity, providing a real alternative to landfill.”
Energos uses its own patented gasification technology, an advanced two-stage thermal treatment process that converts residual, non-recyclable waste into a gas by using the heat of partial combustion to liberate the hydrogen and carbon within the waste. Residual waste is fed into the gasification chamber, where it is manufactured into a syngas. This syngas is then transferred to a secondary oxidation chamber where it is fully combusted in a controlled environment that enables much tighter control than can be achieved in conventional energy from waste plants – resulting in extremely low emissions. The resulting heat energy is used to produce steam, which can be used to supply renewable heat and/or electricity.
The company has a 12-year track record and around 400,000 hours of safe, ultra low emission operating experience at its seven European facilities
A typical Energos plant generates 8MW of renewable electricity, sufficient to power 10,000 homes and equivalent to the output of 15 large wind turbines. It is designed to complement recycling initiatives and is a small scale model that can exist at the heart of the community. As such, facilities can be sited next to energy consumers to optimise heat recovery, or in locations where a heat delivery or district heating system could be developed.
Energos is a proven leader in its field – setting new emissions standards and is currently rolling out its advanced conversion process throughout the UK having obtained planning permission for four facilities. It will start construction on new facilities in Scotland, Merseyside and Lincolnshire later this year - with further developments planned in Derbyshire and Bristol. Another facility is already under construction in Sarpsborg, Norway.
For more information contact:
Zita Pálosi, Marketing Services Manager
ENER-G
ENER-G House, Daniel Adamson Road, Salford, Manchester M50 1DT
T: 0161 745 7450 F: 0161 745 7457 E: marketing@energ.co.uk W: www.energ.co.uk
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