Viridor plans to build a new plastics recycling plant and more energy parks as the energy from waste (EfW) business continues to drive profit at Pennon.
Posting annual results, the company said the plastics processing facility would be co-located with its new Avonmouth EfW, using heat and energy offtakes.
The company believes creating energy parks – supplying heat and power via private pipes and wires to local businesses and potentially building wind and solar assets as well as supplying EfW derived energy – will increase profit at its EfW sites by up to 10 per cent.
“We already have several such connections, including our Runcorn ERF that has a heat and power offtake to Inovyn, Peterborough ERF where we provide a heat connection to a council depot, and our landfill gas engines and ERF at Beddington, which provide heat offtake into a community heating network,” stated the company.
“We believe there is significant potential to do more with energy parks supporting Viridor’s own activities, other Pennon Group operations such as South West Water’s treatment plants, or third-party energy intensive facilities.”
Meanwhile, as landfill gas volumes decline over time, its sites are left with spare grid capacity. That could create opportunities for battery storage or other forms of flexible generation, as companies such as Ylem Energy are exploiting.
Viridor’s EBITDA increased by 19.1% (£28.7 million) compared with 2017/18. The EBITDA generated by its energy from waste portfolio increased 25.1% to £154.8 million (2017/18 £123.7 million) as new plant came on-stream.
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