SANDWELL, United Kingdom
Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands and chair of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), yesterday visited a new £500m waste infrastructure project in West Bromwich that will generate millions of pounds of economic activity during its construction and support WMCA’s ambition to be Net Zero emissions by 2041.
Due to come online from 2025, the Kelvin energy-from-waste facility will produce homegrown energy from non-recyclable waste that would otherwise go to landfill or be exported abroad. 395,000 tonnes of waste will be processed by the facility every year, producing enough electricity to power 95,000 homes. 400 jobs will be supported during the project’s construction, with an additional 40 roles created once operational.
The project will be operated by British business enfinium, one of the UK’s largest energy-from-waste companies. enfinium currently operates four facilities across the country that process 2.3 million tonnes of non-recyclable waste every year into homegrown power for more than 500,000 homes.
During the visit the Mayor heard about enfinium’s emerging plans to transform the Kelvin facility into a ‘Net Zero Hub’ that would leverage technologies such as heat networks, carbon capture and storage and electrolytic hydrogen to accelerate decarbonisation across the region. WMCA’s Plan for Growth, published last year, sets out the region’s commitment to become Net Zero by 2041 and a leader in new low carbon solutions, particularly transport mobility. The Kelvin facility alone could use its renewable power to produce enough low carbon hydrogen to continuously fuel hundreds of HGVs operating in the region.
Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands, said “I was delighted to visit the site of enfinium’s £500 million investment into West Bromwich. With future capabilities for hydrogen generation and carbon capture, this state-of-the-art energy-from-waste facility, will be at the heart of the region’s goal to reach net zero by 2041.”
As part of the visit the enfinium management team also outlined the steps it had taken along with ACCIONA, its engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) partner for the project, to build relationships with the Sandwell community. A ‘Meet the Buyer’ event was held at Sandwell College’s Spon Lane campus in April 2022 to highlight potential supply chain opportunities during the project’s three-year build programme, which is expected to generate up to £80 million of economic activity for the regional economy. A £50,000 construction phase community fund will also support local charities and initiatives during the same period, increasing once the facility is operational.
Mike Maudsley, Chief Executive Officer at enfinium, said “It was a pleasure to host the Mayor of the West Midlands at our facility and discuss the steps the Combined Authority is taking to create a zero-carbon economy by 2041. Once completed, our Kelvin project will provide critical infrastructure that will support green economic growth in West Bromwich and across the West Midlands region for years to come. We will transform non-recyclable waste into homegrown energy that can power exciting new technologies like electrolytic hydrogen and carbon capture and storage, as well as creating low carbon heat for homes and businesses in the region.”
For more information about the project please call 0800 860 6251 or email kelvin@enfinium.co.uk.
About enfinium
enfinium is one of the largest energy from waste businesses in the UK and is an industry leader in the conversion of non-recyclable residential and business waste into heat and partially renewable power. enfinium currently has a platform of six (two in construction) strategically located facilities across the UK. Today, enfinium has an annual waste processing capacity of over 2.3 million tonnes, and a total combined electric generating capacity of 265MW (gross) — enough energy to power more than 500,000 UK homes. For more on enfinium, please visit www.enfinium.co.uk.
