Levenseat Renewable Energy Ltd. has secured equity investment from a group of investors led by the UK Green Investment Bank for its 12.3-megawatt waste-to-energy project at Forth by Lanark, Scotland.
The investment also includes a component for materials recycling facility at the same site. The £111 million (US$165 million) project is also backed by an equity investment from Levenseat Ltd and Zouk Capital, as well as senior debt from Investec Bank plc. GIB’s £28.25m investment was made via UK Waste & Resource & Energy Investments, the Foresight-managed fund, in which GIB is a cornerstone investor.
The plant will combine fluidised bed gasification technology with refuse derived fuel processed by the materials recycling facility. The facility will recover plastics, metals, paper and card for recycling. The project is forecast to recycle over a million tonnes of materials over its lifetime and will generate the heat required by the materials recycling facility.
The project is forecast to supply electricity equivalent to the needs of nearly 18,000 homes over its expected 25-year lifespan. It is also expected to save 1.4 million tonnes of waste from going into landfill and deliver a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of around 1.3 million tonnes, equivalent to taking over 23,000 cars off the road for every year it operates.
The electricity will be supplied to the national grid with the heat output assisting the operation of the materials recycling facility. The materials recycling facility is expected to start operating in January 2017, with the complete plant commencing operations in June of that year.
M+W Group has been appointed the main contractor for the project.