A new £220 million waste to energy facility in Fife is “on track” to be operational next year.
Currently around 450 people are on-site every day working at the former Westfield coal mine – one of the largest construction projects Fife has ever seen.
Westfield Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) will be able to process around 200,000 tonnes of non-recyclable residual waste every year.
This will be turned into both electricity and heat. The hope is that the prospect of cheap power will attract other industrial operators to set up beside the plant.
Project manager delighted at Fife waste plant progress
Sean McManus, deputy project manager at Westfield ERF, gave an update on the project.
He said: “The cladding is well progressed, along with the boiler and turbine hall roofs.
“We are still on track for commercial operations takeover by the contractor HZI at the end of April 2025.
“Siemens is on site completing construction of the steam turbine and generator package.
“Fit out of the admin building is progressing well with the offices taking shape, ready for occupation in October.
“We have had an excellent start to the year with a stellar safety performance by the main contractors.
“We aim to continue this through to completion.”
Fife Council deal
Fife Council already has a deal in place to send 160,000 tonnes of waste to the Westfield plant once operational.
Forty jobs will be available when the plant is operational, on top of the hundreds created during the construction phase.
One of the local suppliers is Precia-Molen UK, which manufactures weighbridges in Dunfermline.
Marina Campbell, managing director said, “It has been a project that the whole team in Fife has been involved in.
“It was managed through the local team and will be installed by our engineers who live in Fife.”
After several years of development by Brockfield Energy, construction started in December 2021.
Brockwell sold the project to investor Equitix for an undisclosed sum in September 2022. It is now a joint venture with waste management company Viridor.
The facility is being constructed by Hitachi Zosen Inova.
The ERF plant is due to be receiving waste by September this year and fully operational in May 2025.
The former Westfield open-cast coal mine, east of Ballingry, which closed in 1994.
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