According to a new market analysis from ENDs there will be sharp growth in the UK energy from waste sector in the next few years. Meanwhile, as the UK works to develop waste treatment infrastructure to replace landfill and reach recovery targets, the export market for refuse-derived fuel (RDF) continues to grow.
The report European Waste to Energy Facilities Market 2014 – 19 predicts massive growth in the waste to energy sector over the next few years. This covers all types of recovered fuel including RDF and SRF. These forecasts are based on projects monitored in the ENDS Waste&Bioenergy database.
Analysis in the report predicts that European energy from waste plants’ capacity, which was 98.8 million tonnes per year at the end of 2014, will rise to reach up to 116Mt/yr in 2019. It also predicts electricity generation capacity will rise to around 10.5GW – an increase of 18%. The countries of Europe are split into three groups – pioneers, late-comers and non-starters. The pioneers are countries like Denmark, France and Germany who have committed already to developing energy from waste infrastructure and have met, or are very close to meeting, EU targets for waste management. In these countries, there is little scope left for developing plants. The latecomers are being led by the UK and Poland – both investing heavily in shifting waste disposal from landfill and towards energy recovery. The report predicts that in the UK and Ireland there will be a 135% increase in the number of plants operating from 2014 to 2019. It is expected capacity here will increase by 12.6Mt. Countries in the non-starters group include Greece and Portugal where there is little or no current capacity, and at best, limited investment in the pipeline.
Until domestic capacity develops, the export market for UK RDF has continued growing. It doubled from 0.8 million tonnes in 2012 to 1.6 million tonnes in 2013 and increased further in 2014. The expectation is that this level will be maintained until additional, cost-effective, treatment infrastructure is up and running in the UK.
At Clarity, we provide a wide range of RDF and SRF solutions to waste producers and energy recovery plants. Call our team to find out more on 0845 129 7177.
