The contractor for the Aberdeen incinerator will be obliged to take and manage the non-recyclable waste from Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Moray councils at the end of this month — but work on the incinerator is far from complete.
Work has been steadily progressing on building the £150 million Ness Energy Project incinerator in East Tullos.
Once completed, the facility will process waste that can’t be recycled from the three local authorities of Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and Moray.
When it is fully up and running, it is planned to burn 150,000 tonnes of unrecyclable material every year, and produce heat and electricity in the process.
The contractor for the incinerator, EFW Ness Limited — a subsidiary of Acciona Industrial UK — is obliged to start taking and managing the non-recyclable waste from all three councils from October 29.
However, construction work at the incinerator is still ongoing.
Last month, a report for Aberdeen City councillors said that “hot commissioning” is due to start this winter, and the site will be “fully operational” by next summer if all goes to plan.
Hot commissioning is the process of actually firing up the incinerator to burn waste.
How will the contractors manage the waste from all three councils on October 29 if hot commissioning hasn’t started at the Aberdeen incinerator?
We asked Acciona how it will manage all the the non-recyclable waste from all three council areas should the facility not be prepared for hot commissioning by October 29.
We also inquired when they anticipate hot commissioning to commence.
Acciona was unable to provide clarity on how it will manage the waste from all three councils after they start sending it to them from October 29, but a spokeswoman said: “Hot commissioning is anticipated to start on the first quarter of 2023”.
However, a spokeswoman for Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Moray councils provided more clarity.
She explained that “under the terms of the contract, it is Acciona’s responsibility to manage the waste” from October 29 from all three councils.
The three local authorities will be sending their non-recyclable waste to the contractor from that date.
We also asked if there are any concerns that the contractor may be overwhelmed by non-recyclable waste from the three councils if waste is being sent to the contractor and they can’t incinerate it yet.
The spokeswoman for the councils said: “The contractor has provided a contingency delivery plan for these circumstances and the councils are confident Acciona will manage the waste satisfactorily”.
What are all three councils doing with their non-recyclable waste currently?
The spokeswoman confirmed that waste which can’t be recycled in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire is currently disposed of at the Stoneyhill Landfill Site, near Peterhead.
Moray Council gets rid of this kind of waste at Dallachy Landfill.
Before the fire at the Suez recycling and recovery centre in Altens this year, Aberdeen City’s non-recyclable waste was being sent to incinerator sites in northern Europe which are similar to the one being built now in East Tullos.
How has progress been on the incinerator so far?
A report last month for Aberdeen City councillors said the “large majority of construction works are complete”, and “cold commissioning of the plant is underway”.
The contractor said factors like recruitment of suitably-trained staff, Covid, and impacts on the supply chain have all played a part in hampering progress on construction of the incinerator.
The project as a whole has faced numerous delays since the council first made the business case for the incinerator in 2013.
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