A £210 million waste to energy plant will create 500 jobs at Grangemouth when construction gets under way next month.
Brockwell Energy said its proposal for the Earls Gate Energy Centre (EGEC) had reached financial close and the near three-year build-out of the project will now begin within weeks.
EGEC is a 21.5 megawatt facility that will process 216,000 tonnes of household and commercial waste each year and provide low carbon heat and power to local industry, including chemical manufacturer CalaChem.
“We recognised the potential in Earls Gate from the outset,” said Brockwell CFO Iain Cockburn.
“The delivery of such a flagship project for Scotland more than justifies the
significant financial investment we have made over the past three years and demonstrates that it is possible to build and finance high quality merchant energy recovery plants without the need for subsidies.
“We are also very grateful for the commitment of the CalaChem team in supporting a highly demanding development programme and to our banking group of ABN Amro, NatWest Bank Plc, MUFG and Investec Bank Plc for their support.”
The new waste plant will be jointly owned by Brockwell and a co-investment vehicle set up by the Green Investment Group (GIG) and Covanta Energy.
In addition to the 500 construction jobs, the site is expected to deliver 30 long-term operational roles.
“The success of EGEC reflects the skills and dedication of the Brockwell and GIG teams and delivers a new world-class renewable CHP facility to support the site,” Brockwell chief executive Alex Lambie said.
“This is the first of a number of EfW projects that we will build over the next three years.”
Brockwell already has a second energy from waste project in its sights at the former Westfield open cast coal mine in Fife.
GIG Europe head Edward Northam said the Grangemouth project was his firm’s 19th investment in Scotland.
“2017 saw Scotland recycle more waste than it sent to landfill,” he said.
“This is a fantastic achievement but there remains a lack of capacity to unlock the value to businesses and households from converting residual waste into low-carbon energy.
“The Earls Gate facility will play a major role in changing that.”
Neil Partlett, CEO of CalaChem, said: “CalaChem has been a part of Grangemouth industry for almost 100 years.
“In addition to improved environmental performance and operational reliability, Earls Gate Energy Centre will enhance CalaChem’s international competitiveness by controlling overall energy costs.”
