La Collette incinerator

1240/5(6702)

WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR TRANSPORT AND TECHNICAL SERVICES BY DEPUTY G.C.L. BAUDAINS OF ST. CLEMENT

ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 21st FEBRUARY 2012

Question

1. With regard to the Energy from Waste Plant (EfW) at La Collette would the Minister advise -

1. whether it is now operating satisfactorily and, if not, why not;
2. whether flue emissions are now entirely within forecasted safety limits;
3. whether any waste from Guernsey has yet been brought to Jersey;
4. why it is now being suggested spare capacity could accommodate Guernsey's waste  when  the argument  all along  for a plant of this  size  was  that it  was necessary to allow for maintenance and outages;
5. whether his department have made it clear to the Guernsey authorities that Jersey has made no decision whether or not to accept their waste.

2. Has the Department considered the feasibility of importing Guernsey's waste and, if so, would the Minister advise where it is proposed to unload, by what means it would be transported to the EfW, what arrangements, if any, have been discussed regarding ash disposal and how any dust or smell from the exercise would be avoided?

Answer

1. (i) As with any complex piece of machinery, there are a number of areas that need to be optimised. TTS and the contractor have been fine tuning the process over the last few months aiming to ensure that the plant uses chemicals efficiently, minimises site electrical consumption and maximises the export of electricity to the JEC. There are contractual performance guarantees which the contractor has to demonstrate the plant can meet, so this fine tuning process is working towards ensuring that these are met.

2. The flue gas cleaning system is efficiently cleaning the flue gas from the process. The daily emission averages are below and in most cases significantly below the daily emission standard required under the plant's operating licence. All the emissions data is reported to the regulator, as required under the operating licence.
3. No waste has been brought from Guernsey to Jersey.
4. The capacity for any Energy from Waste facility needs to be calculated based on the predicted waste arising over the life of the plant (25 years). This shows spare capacity over the first years of operation. In addition the Department has noted a drop in the waste aligned to the economic conditions within the Island which will provide more spare capacity. Our waste model includes down time relating to plant maintenance and outages.

5. Any decision to accept waste from the other Channel Islands will be made by the States Assembly as agreed in P.17 / 2010.

2. TTS working in conjunction with Guernsey are looking at the feasibility of the importation of waste. The key elements of the feasibility works includes:

• Costs / Income
• Capacity
• Environmental Regulation (shipping)
• Environmental Regulation Jersey
• Logistics of importation of waste
• Environmental benefits
• Ash solutions

No firm decisions have been made and all options are currently under consideration. Logistics options include roll on roll off from the Elizabeth Terminal and lift on lift off from Victoria quay. Ash options for Jersey are currently under development and this work will assist in finding the most appropriate solution for Guernsey residual ash. Dust and smell will need to be avoided for the importation  to  be  successful,  once  on  the  plant  the  current controls for dust and smell abatement will be utilised for the Guernsey waste.