ABB has won orders from Hitachi Zosen Inova, the Swiss-based waste-to-energy engineering, procurement and construction contractor, to supply a complete electrical and control solution for the new Severnside Energy Recovery Centre in England and a waste-to-energy plant in Poznan, Poland. The waste-to-energy industry, where electricity and heat are derived from household and commercial waste, is a growing market. On the one hand, rising populations and urbanization are leading to more waste, while on the other landfill options are diminishing. Between 1990 and 2010, worldwide municipal solid waste volume increased from 700 million tons to 1.3 billion tons and is set to reach 2.2 billion tons by 2025. Using the waste-to-energy process, one ton of municipal solid waste could supply up to 800 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity.
"We are pleased to support these waste-to-energy projects that help lower environmental impact and support our vision for a 'better world,' " said Claudio Facchin, president of ABB's Power Systems business. "Our technology offering and domain expertise enables us to support these projects across the value chain from engineering and project execution to life cycle support."
"We are pleased to have chosen ABB for these projects as they share our value to deliver sustainable solutions for a better environment," said Franz-Josef Mengede, chief executive officer of Hitachi Zosen Inova.
ABB's advanced and fully integrated control system, based on its Symphony Plus platform, allows for rapid adjustment of combustion conditions for the safest and most efficient operation. This process reduces the volume of waste significantly and lowers pollution and dangers from the flue gases. ABB will deliver the solutions in pre-assembled, factory-tested modules to facilitate rapid delivery and easy installation and all critical equipment will meet the highest levels of reliability and availability.
The West London Waste Authority is building the Severnside facility as it seeks to shift waste from being put into landfills. Poznan's project is part of a broader effort by cities in the country to comply with new national and European environmental standards on waste disposal.
The Severnside facility will treat up to 400,000 metric tons of municipal solid waste a year, with an installed electrical capacity of 37 megawatts (MW), enough to power 50,000 UK homes. The Poznan plant has a capacity of 18 MW derived from 210,000 metric tons of waste that would otherwise be buried in landfills. Both plants are expected to start operation in 2016. ABB has supplied electrical and automation solutions for hundreds of waste-to-energy plants worldwide. These solutions enable some of the world's largest cities including Berlin, London, Vienna and Singapore as well as small and mid-sized municipalities, to efficiently, cost-effectively and safely generate renewable energy from waste.
