Steam turbine for Welsh waste plant

Engineering company Peter Brotherhood has built a steam turbine with a contract value of almost £1 million to be installed in a £7 million waste-to-energy plant being built at Crymlyn Burrows near Neath in South Wales, UK, and due to come on line in summer 2002. The 4.5 MW turbine will produce electricity to power local council buildings and street lights using fuel derived from domestic and commercial refuse.

The power station is part of a £32 million integrated waste treatment plant, which will also include recycling and composting, being developed by project company HLC (Neath Port Talbot) Ltd. Mixed municipal wastes from local homes and businesses will be separated into various streams for recycling, composting or processing into fuel. The refuse-derived fuel will be composed mostly of low-grade paper, wood and plastics - about 30 per cent by weight of the mixed waste stream that enters the plant. Almost half of the 4.5 MW of electricity generated will be used to power the facility itself and the balance will be used by local government for municipal buildings, street lighting, etc.