Earlier this month, Low Carbon Ltd, in partnership with PMAC Energy Ltd, announced that planning consent has been granted for its state-of-the-art energy-from-waste facility: the Redcar Energy Centre.

Set for completion in 2025, the Redcar Energy Centre will divert between 350,000 and 450,000 tonnes per annum of refuse away from UK landfill.  It will generate up to 49.9MW of low-carbon electricity for the local grid – enough to power over 100,000 homes – and deliver more than £300 million of inward investment to the region.

The permission includes consent for the development of a Materials Recovery Facility adjacent to the Energy Centre.  The Materials Recovery Facility will have the ability to process and recycle up to 200,000 tonnes of municipal, commercial and industrial waste each year, extracting valuable metals for recovery.

The Redcar Energy Centre is expected to become a cornerstone development for the UK’s largest industrial zone (as part of the South Tees Development Corporation’s ambitious redevelopment objectives), providing heat and electricity to advanced manufacturing facilities in the local area.

Occupying a 25-acre brownfield site within the Redcar Bulk Terminal on the River Tees, the project will benefit from the existing strong road, rail and port links which means the centre can participate in both UK and European waste-derived fuel markets.

In line with its ambitions to be a greener, more efficient and lower cost solution to landfill and export, it will also offer zero-emission energy from waste in partnership with the Net Zero Teeside CCS project which is located next door to the site.

The development is also keen to tap into the highly skilled local workforce which is expected to employ over 400 workers during the 36-month construction phase and require over 100 full-time positions once operational.  The project will also require the support of many local businesses indirectly creating further local employment.

With the UK EfW market undergoing significant recent growth and transformation, the Redcar development team are aware of the crucial role that waste supply and construction partners will now play in the next stage of the project’s development.  The project team will engage a range of fuel suppliers for the project and welcomes further discussions with potential partners over the next 6-12 months to ensure a fundable yet flexible long-term feedstock solution.

Roy Bedlow, Founder and Chief Executive of Low Carbon said: “The 49.9MW subsidy-free Redcar Energy Centre will use proven conventional technology to provide a reliable source of controllable energy for more than 100,000 homes.  It will divert more than 350,000 tonnes of waste away from landfill, add flexibility to the fuel and recycling supply chains and provide hundreds of jobs to an area with a proud industrial heritage.  Low Carbon is delighted to bring forward our third consented waste project in the UK and to use our experience in developing large-scale renewable and low-carbon energy projects to help deliver this project in the Tees Valley.”

Robert Lewis, Founder of PMAC Energy: “It has been a long term goal of PMAC Energy to develop a large-scale sustainable energy-from-waste recovery centre in the North East and we are proud to have Low Carbon’s support in developing the Redcar Energy Centre.  We have used our extensive experience handling and processing waste-derived fuels throughout Europe to design a flexible solution for both waste management and energy recovery to support the growing list of future developments in the neighbouring South Tees area that require renewable energy direct.”