Wheelabrator Achieves Financial Close on North Wales WTE Facility

Wheelabrator Technologies reached financial close on a new 220,000 tons per year energy recovery facility, with construction to commence in January 2017 on the Deeside Industrial Park in Flintshire, North Wales.

“To achieve financial close is a significant milestone and I’m extremely proud of our team for making this possible,” Wheelabrator President and CEO Robert Boucher said in a statement. “This is the result of six years of hard work and negotiations, and I’m excited to welcome our third U.K. facility to our global fleet.”

It’s the latest in a series of steps forward for the company as a global player in the waste-to-energy market since it was divested from Waste Management in 2014 in a $1.94 billion deal. An affiliate of the Short Hills, N.J.-based Energy Capital acquired the company in the deal. In conjunction with the closing of the sale, WM and ECP entered into a seven-year waste supply agreement.

In 2015, Boucher stepped in as president and CEO, succeeding Mark A. Weidman, who retired after spending 25 years with the company.

This summer, the company also reached financial close on a new 606,000 tons per year energy-from-waste facility at Kemsley in Kent, U.K. Then it moved its U.S. corporate headquarters to Pease International Tradeport in Portsmouth, N.H.

In the newest development, Wheelabrator Parc Adfer will be a combined heat and power enabled facility which will generate 18.8 MW (gross) / 16.6 MW (net) of sustainable electricity to meet the needs of over 30,000 U.K. homes and businesses. The facility will also be capable of providing valuable steam or heat to local industry and housing.

Progress to reach close on this £180 million financing follows the award of planning consent by Flintshire County Council's Planning and Development Control Committee in May 2015 and an Environmental Permit by Natural Resources Wales.

In 2014, Wheelabrator was selected as preferred bidder to build and operate the facility over the next 25 years as a public-private partnership (PPP), with support from the Welsh Government to serve the five local authorities that make up the North Wales Residual Waste Treatment Project (NWRWTP) - Conwy County Borough Council, Denbighshire County Council, Flintshire County Council, Gwynedd Council and the Isle of Anglesey County Council.

Residual waste fuel for the facility will be provided primarily by the five authorities, which initiated the procurement to achieve long-term targets for recycling and diversion of waste from landfill. A further long-term contract is in place with a top tier waste management company, ensuring that over 70 percent of the facility’s fuel supply is hedged at fixed prices. The remaining capacity at the facility will be offered to commercial waste collection companies.

Site preparation work will start immediately and full construction of the facility is set to commence in 2017. The construction phase is expected to result in hundreds of additional jobs and create around 35 new, full-time operational roles at the facility when plant operations commence in 2019.

“The Parc Adfer facility is an example of our ongoing commitment to investing in new and necessary energy recovery infrastructure across the U.K.,” said Wheelabrator’s U.K. Managing Director Paul Green. “We remain focused on developing our pipeline for growth and building long-lasting relationships with the five North Wales authorities and commercial waste companies across the U.K. We’re committed to bringing our experience and industry expertise to Wheelabrator Parc Adfer and delivering a facility of the highest safety and operational performance standards.”

Parc Adfer is Wheelabrator’s third energy recovery facility in the U.K., which in total represents over 1.43 million tons of residual waste treatment capacity.