Another step forward in the energy recovery from waste

MSW Management in Biscay

Biscay in the European Union

Biscay

Basque Country in the European Union

BiscayPopulation: 1.149.628 inhabitants

Area: 2.217 km 2

COLLECTIONMSW Management includes

TRANSPORT

PREVENTIONREDUCTION

TREATMENT

MSW Management in BiscayUntil 1980 Uncontrolled tipping

1980 - 1990 Controlled sanitary landfilling

1990 - 2000 RecyclingGas utilisationControlled

landfilling

2000 - 2010 Separate collection

Material recycling

Biological treatment

Incineration Residual waste landfillingSlag-conditioning

and use

Background

In the 1990s the province of Bizkaia had two major problems that needed to be solved quickly:

1) A shortage of land on which to build new landfills.2) A shortfall in electricity generation.

To solve these problems numerous institutions and private companies in the province investigated and applied solutions that had been tried in EU countries that were more advanced in terms

of environmental friendliness and electricity production.

Their targets were:1) to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill. 2) to make use of the material and energy value

contained in waste; and3) to produce electricity from new, renewable energy

sources.

Background

As the first step towards solving the problem of wastemanagement, public institutions in Bizkaia approved the1st Integrated Plan for 1997-2001. This was followed bya second plan for 2005-2016. Both these plansenvisaged a hierarchical scale in waste management.

Circular Economy Package (Brussels, 2 December 2015): “Whenwaste cannot be prevented or recycled, recovering its energy contentis in most cases preferable to landfilling it, in both environmental andeconomic terms. ‘Waste to energy' can therefore play a role andcreate synergies with EU energy and climate policy”.

Municipal Waste Treatment - EUROSTAT 2017

Landfill Waste-to-Energy Recycling + Composting

DE FR IT UK ES PL NL EL BE PT AT SE RO HU DK CZ BG FI IE SK HR LT SI LV CY LU EE MT

Recycling 31. 13. 12. 13. 5.8 2.3 4.5 958 2.9 1.2 2.7 2.0 139 1.0 1.6 750 841 912 985 227 246 280 294 97 121 165 118 30

Incineration 17. 11. 6.2 4.9 2.0 51 4.5 0 2.1 930 1.5 2.2 0 364 1.9 654 0 925 427 168 2 8 10 0 0 126 46 1

Landfilling 205 9.9 12. 10. 13. 7.1 140 4.5 59 2.5 150 33 4.2 2.6 94 1.8 2.3 901 1.0 1.2 1.3 1.0 315 516 451 62 129 203

0

5.000

10.000

15.000

20.000

25.000

30.000

35.000

40.000

45.000

50.000

EU28 Municipal Solid Waste Treatment (ktonnes) in 2015

(source: Eurostat)

Waste-to-Energy in Europe in 2017

Zabalgarbi was established as a joint-stock company in 1993

Its objective was to supplement other waste management systems

that were to be instructed in the area, and to produce electricity.

The idea was to build 2 waste-to-energy plants, with a power capacity of 100 MW each,

producing electricity from renewable energy sources using the biomass contained

in waste, and natural gas.

Artigas eco -park :waste management infrastructures

· Shareholders: Private sector: 65%Shareholders: Public sector: 35%

• Capital: €27,040,000• Total investment in plant A: €180,000,000 • Project finance: €129,000,000

Zabalgarbi, S.A.

SENER: 30%

VTR (FCC): 30%

DFB: 20%

EVE: 10%

MMIZM: 5%

Kutxabank : 5%

Project figures, 18 years later

• Total of 7.940 operating hours in 2018.

• All equipment, at 100% availability and at operation:o 7,230-7,450 hours per year projected (year 2000)o 7,940 hours in 2018

• Waste treated per hour:o 30 t/h projected (2000)o 29.1 t/h in 2018

• Total waste treated:o 229,000 t projected (2000)o 230,813 t treated in 2018o 3,222,775 t since 2004 (226,000 t/year average)

• Electricity exported per hour:o 93.27 MW projected (2000)o 84 MW in 2018

• Total electricity exported:o 700,000 MWh projected (2000)o 644,000 MWh in 2018

Additional reference data

• Operation: 8,000 hours/year.

• Tons of waste treated: 225,000 tpa.

• Electricity: 650 M kWh per annum.

• Operation and maintenance: Zabalgarbi, S.A.

• Nº of employees: 70.

• Points of origin of waste: 100 municipalities in Biscay andrejected material from waste separation and recycling companies.

• Nº of people served by the plant: around 1.052.000.

• Contract framework: Garbiker & MMMI.

• Incineration fee: various prices depending on type of waste andcontractual structure.

• Natural gas supply: Endesa.

General features of the process

Another step …

This step forward earned the plant recognition and top category subsidies from the EU’s Thermie programme for

increasing energy yield, savings and efficiency, and for its lower environmental impact in generating electricity on a like-

for-like resource basis (MSW and gas).

The innovative plant A adapts combined cycle gas technology to the waste to energy

process via a unique, integrated process.

Weighbridge and radioactivity detector gate

Control de accesosAccess control

Storage: 15 days

Watertight pit

• Type of furnace: moving grate.• Boiler furnace: CNIM.• Grating: Martin.

Combustion area

1 incineration line: 30 tph(LHV around 1800-2000 kcal/kg)

Waste-to -Energy process

Electricity production area

Gas turbine: average gross power 43 MW (General Electric).

Steam turbine: average gross power 56.5 MW (Nuovo Pignone).

Control room

The whole process of waste to energy treatment, electricity productionand environmental management is supervised from the control roomfitted with interactive screens that provide continuous information onthe burning of waste, on the gas scrubber system, on the gas andsteam turbines and on the electricity exported.

Process design• Combustion control system.• Gas scrubbing system.• Minimisation of emissions (gases, water...).• Minimisation of impact (waterproof pit, recirculation

of scrubbed gases, odor control system… ).

Control and monitoring systems• Environmental checks.• Incoming and outgoing checks.• Proper waste management.• Combustion control: > 850º.• Reduction of NOx (NH3 at 23%).• Gas scrubbing (lime bed).• Active carbon injection.• Bag filter.• Recirculation of fumes (20%).• Redundant continuous monitoring and control of

emission parameters into the atmosphereconnected with Basque Government

Environmental assurances

Environmental checks

Immissions

a) The air quality in the surroundingarea is continuously monitored(PM10, PM2,5, O3, NOx, SO2,VOCs, HCl and weather data)via three monitoring stationslocated on Mount Arraiz (Bilbao),in Alonsotegi and in Larrazabal(Barakaldo).

b) Regular measurements taken insoil, vegetation and water(heavy metals, dioxins andfurans) and in the air (HF, heavymetals, dioxins and furans).

Checks on the surrounding area and on human health

Epidemiological study:Six years into the study, researchers from the University of the Basque Country have reached the conclusion that the Zabalgarbiwaste incinerator:

- does not entail any risk to the environment or risk of cancer;

- does not significantly increase exposure to contaminants in the local area for the population or for ecosystems.

Olfactometric studies:- The results to date of studies conducted by public and private bodies indicate that the plant does not give off any odor that influences the surrounding area.

- Odor is perceptible only in the area of the pit and the unloading bay.

).

Combustion waste

a) Slag: 44,965 t. (20.13% in terms of weight).This comprises non-combustible materials such as glass, ceramics, etc...

b) Ferrous scrap: 3,825 t. (1.71% in terms of weight). This is valorized by steel companies.

c) Ash: 8,119 t. (3.63% in terms of weight).This comprises fly ash and treatment waste from the gas scrubbing process.It is classified as hazardous waste. After fixation and physical/chemicalstabilization it is converted into waste that is admissible at inertised wastelandfills.

Combustion waste

Another step forward using waste as energy