Hot on the heels of Viridor’s recent news about achieving financial close at its new Thameside Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) in the Port of Tilbury, Essex, the company is also pleased to announce that the new Westfield Energy Recovery Facility (WERF) based in Fife has successful managed its first fire. This marks a monumental milestone for the site and the culmination of four years of planning and construction. This accomplishment is a testament to the hard work, expertise and collaboration of all partners involved in this project.

Poised to play a crucial role in Scotland’s ambitious ‘Zero Waste’ and ‘Net Zero’ carbon goals, WERF is expected to process at least 240,000 tonnes of residual black bag waste annually from the local region, which might otherwise end up in landfill. This process will generate enough electricity to power the equivalent of approximately 55,000 homes.

Since 2022, WERF has been jointly owned by Viridor and Equitix, who together hold 100% of shares in Westfield Energy Recovery Limited (WERL). Originally established by Brockwell Energy, WERL secured land rights, planning and environmental consents for the construction of the ERF along with operating contracts, financing and other service agreements. Kanadevia Inova (formerly Hitachi Zosen Inova), one of the world's greentech leaders in waste to energy, has been the main contractor on the site and will now continue as operator of the ERF.

Commenting on this landmark moment, Jonathan Heneghan, Chairman of the Board for WERL and Director of Capital Projects at Viridor says, “The first fire is a pivotal moment signalling our move from a site under construction to one that is fully operational. It is down to the fantastic teams we have had on site that we have reached this stage so seamlessly. My thanks go out to everyone who has contributed to this project.”

Lekan Omoniwa, WERL Board Member and Director, Asset Management at Equitix further commented: “We are delighted to have achieved this significant milestone within the scheduled timescale. This sets us up nicely for a successful commissioning and testing phase in the coming months, leading to commercial operations being delivered as anticipated by early Q2 2025. A big thank you to all the stakeholders that have played a part in the continued successful delivery of this project”.

Further plans for WERF include potential heat network and carbon capture projects in the future. The site will play an important role in ensuring the security of the electricity grid and has created 40 permanent jobs directly employed at the plant as well as benefitting many local businesses and suppliers.

For more information, please visit https://westfield-erf.co.uk

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