Funds invested were €250m (£209.7m), which also covered the construction of two waste transfer stations (High Heavens and Amersham) and a new access road. The site is fully operational, employing 46 full time permanent operatives and generating up to £2.3m per year for the local Aylesbury Vale economy (job creation and contracts with local suppliers).

The EfW facility, designed and built by Hitachi Zosen INOVA (HZI), is the eighth of its type to be commissioned by FCC, which has a ninth plant under construction. FCC financed construction costs, most of which were recouped from the client upon commissioning.

The facility will treat up to 300,000 tonnes of residual waste each year and will generate 22MW of electricity – this is equivalent to the electricity needs required to power up to 36,000 homes. It will be the primary disposal point for all of Buckinghamshire’s local authority waste.
 

Aylesbury Vale District Council and some of the county’s Household Waste Centres will deliver waste directly to the facility, with the three southern districts councils (South Bucks, Chiltern and Wycombe) and the rest of the HWRCs using a waste transfer station at High Heavens near Wycombe. The waste transfer station will be used to bulk waste into articulated lorries for onward transport to the EFW facility.

Paul Taylor, Chief Executive of FCC’s UK subsidiary (FCC Environment): “Greatmoor EfW will convert Buckinghamshire’s household and business residual waste, the material that cannot otherwise be recycled, into renewable energy. This will reduce the county’s dependence on landfill disposal. The contract will run for 30 years, bringing significant sustainability and economic benefits to Buckinghamshire."

Taylor added: “The construction of Greatmoor EfW marks an important step forward for FCC Environment as the business continues to develop, focusing on its customers’ requirements for extracting value, in the form of energy, from the waste left over after recycling has taken place. Greatmoor EfW represents an integrated service that the county can be proud of.”

Solutions to environmental challenges

Antonio Alfonso, Managing Director - Head of FCC Environment’s International Division, said “Greatmoor EfW represents another significant step forward for FCC as a global partner to municipalities and authorities that are seeking to address environmental challenges. The opening of this facility demonstrates our ability to effectively deliver waste to energy solutions under public-private partnership (PPP) schemes."

Buckinghamshire County Council accepted FCC Environment's bid for the contract to treat residual waste in 2011. Once the necessary planning and environmental permits had been obtained, the Council awarded the definitive 30-year contract in April 2013.