Daring to be different

The lakeside energy from waste plant has placed communications at the heart of its development, as well as some rather unique features.

The Lakeside energy from waste (EtW) plant at Colnbrook.in Berkshire has been 17 years in the making; despite that length of time, however, there have been no
significant objections to its development. Grundon, one of the partners in this joint venture, attributes this to the lines of communication it opened at the start of the project, and has since maintained, with the local community.

The team works very closely with both local communities and local councils. Quarterly liaison group meetings have been held for the last ten years - initially to discuss the proposals and now to provide updates on progress. "The local council, and our nearest neighbours are kept well informed to deal with any questions," Richard Skehens, managing director Grundon and a director of the Lakeside project, explained. "We received eight letters of objection to the planning application for the Lakeside faciility - and 10 letters of support."

It is not just the developer speaking to the local community, however. The council speaks to its residents, project contractors and sub-contractors communicate regularly and the project's partners, Grundon and Viridor, work together to ensure that all concerns are addressed as swiftly as possible.

While communication may have so far proved to be the key to the project's success, its legacy could well be the unique nature of the development. Most worthy of note is the fact that Grundon has specified that it will not accept more than 50 percent of local authorities' waste in a bid to encourage recycling and disperse criticism of EfW replacing recycling. Skehens explained: "The concept of only accepting 50 percent of any individual local authority's waste was certainly a novel one. Our intent was to avoid the oft-quoted perception that EfW crowds out recycling. Grundon considered - based on its visits to recycling facilities worldwide - that the most effective/efficient full-scale recycling schemes can only continuously recycle 50 percent of residual municipal solid waste (MSW). We therefore took a conscious decision to ensure that local authorities should continue to maintain responsibility for 50 percent of their waste - while the EfW plant could manage the 50 percent residual waste left after recycling, composting etc. Local authorities supported this approach.

"At the same time as providing an EfW facility for the 50 percent residual waste, we were also discussing recycling with many of the same local authorities. We take away the headache of handling the residual waste, providing the local authorities with the opportunity to concentrate on recycling, composting etc.

,Publicly we have one signed contract with the partnership between the boroughs of Reading, Bracknell and Wokingham, known as the 3 Rs. We also have a signed contract with Hills of Swindon, to take some of Wiltshire's waste. We already accept mixed household waste and green waste from out host council Slough, which is collected by Accord and delivered to our materials recycling facility adjacent to the EfW plant. The residual waste is currently landfilled, but when Lakeside becomes operational this material will be delivered to the EfW plant.

Funding has also been approached differently, with Bank of Ireland uniquely signing up when only 60 percent of the waste was secured under contract, a case of "build it and they will come," as Skehens calls his working philosophy on the project. Andrew Hartley, head of infrastructure, Bank of Ireland Global Project Finance said: "Regulatory pressures, together with Lakeside's competitive economics and the strong market position enjoyed by Viridor and Grundon in the local waste market, presented a compelling case for Bank of Ireland and the syndicate of banks to support this first household waste treatment facility to reach financial close without a major underpinning local authority supply contract already in place."

The open tender process employed on the project led to another joint venture between Japanese companies Takuma and ltochu and they are now the main contractors for the project. Takuma, a leading Japanese engineering company, designed and patented the incinerator technology being used at the Lakeside plant, giving it a unique, purpose-designed grate, helping to reduce the overall height of the plant. This is particularly important., as the site is so close to Heathrow airport. "We looked at many plants across the world - in the Far East, Europe and America. After being impressed by the Takuma facilities in Japan and Taiwan we reached an agreement," Skehens explained.

At Lakeside, its first UK facility, Takuma will provide the management team for the first four years of operation, another unique angle to the project. It will provide operations, plant and engineering managers, while Lakeside staff will undergo training with Takuma on-site. With both Grundon and Viridor lacking experience in this particular area, Takuma's presence on-site to help overcome any potential teething problems is seen as a significant advantage.

When the Lakeside plant opens it will stand an impressive 42m high, run 130m long and the ornate stack will tower 75m over the countryside. Due to open at the end of June 2008, the plant is primarily designed to incinerate residual MSW and commercial/industrial waste. It is a twin stream plant and each stream has its own dedicated gas clean up system. The plant will also be used to produce electricity for the National Grid, will have an annual capacity throughput of 420000 tonnes per annum, producing 37MW of electricity, and the capacity and the capability to produce heat and power at a later date once the infrastructure is set up. At the moment, because there isn't a user of the thermal energy, the plan is to maximise the electrical output.

Despite these impressive numbers and the progress of the project, it is another line of communication that will be the first major development for the local community.

A visitor centre will provide a wide range of environmental education tools, covering issues such as alternative energy options, fresh water ecology (via pond dipping) and information about the plant. To maximise opportunities for different types of visitors, the stylish multipurpose centre will be built out into a picturesque neighbouring lake; all a far cry from traditional visitors centres that are usually an integral part of the operating facility on visits.

Yet another example of daring to be different.

Article courtesy of CIWM (June 2007)

Further Info

For further information, contact Peter Bishop, Head of Public Relations at:
Edmund Nuttall Limited
St James House, Knoll Road, Camberley,
Surrey GU15 3XW
Tel: 01276 63484
Fax:01276 66060
E-Mail: peter.bishop@edmund-nuttall.co.uk