Reduce, reuse, recycle, recover

Dunbar Energy Recovery Facility

Viridor wanted to develop an energy-from-waste plant at its existing operation in Dunbar, Scotland. The new facility, based at their rail-linked Oxwellmains waste treatment hub forms part of Viridor’s £357 million investment in Scottish waste infrastructure, in-line with Scotland’s ambitions to deliver a zero-waste circular economy.

In 2013, Viridor received planning permission and a pollution, prevention, and control (PPC) permit for a two-stream plant processing up to 300,000 tonnes of waste per year with the capacity to generate up to 30 megawatts of power. The design also made provision for adding a heat export facility of up to 10 megawatts at a later date for use by potential local consumers. Stantec served as owner’s engineer for the scheme and provided project management and engineering technical services.

The £177 million energy recovery plant (ERF) was built by a B&W Vølund and Interserve Joint Venture through an engineering, procure, and construct contract. The plant became fully operational in 2019, and will support 55 full-time jobs, boosting the East Lothian economy by £10 million.