Dublin’s Poolbeg incinerator to burn 15pc more rubbish after upgrade
Upgrades are under way to increase the capacity of Dublin’s Poolbeg incinerator to allow it to burn 15pc more municipal waste.
The plant has already been granted a licence to increase its processing capability, with ongoing waste treatment line upgrades to put that into effect over the next several years.
Operated and maintained by Encyclis Ireland, which is owned by Swiss-headquartered Kanadevia Inova, the facility currently incinerates 600,000 tonnes of waste a year and converts it into electricity for the national grid.
Speaking in an update to councillors last week, Senior Engineer with Dublin City Council (DCC), Karen Kennedy, said the upgrades would bring the processing capacity of the plant up to 690,000 tonnes annually.
“There are two waste treatment lines, each of them take about 41 tonnes an hour each at a particular calorific value,” she said.
“So that varies, and they produce more than 62 megawatts of electricity, which is enough for around 109,000 homes.
“There’s a lot of circular economy processes going on down there as well.
“They use grey water from the waste water treatment plants, rainwater at the facility, and they use Liffey water to cool the steam down.”
Grey water is lightly used household water from things like bathroom sinks, washing machines and showers.
Ms Kennedy said the plant wouldn’t be processing 690,000 tonnes next year or the year after, but that it would gradually be ramping up to it.
Green Party councillor Carolyn Moore said she had concerns about the expansion of the plant, given that national policy is focused on waste reduction rather than waste management.
Ms Kennedy said the impetus behind expanding was that demand for incineration was always growing.
“The reality is that it’s very difficult to deal with the current black bin waste nationally and it isn’t in reality any incentive not to recycle or anything like that,” she said.
She added that the export of waste and sending it to landfill was becoming “more and more difficult all the time”.
The facility incinerates about a third of Ireland’s black bin waste, with the majority of its processed refuse coming from Dublin. It is not licensed to process hazardous waste.
Ms Kennedy added that a feasibility study into carbon capture technology at the plant had been carried out.
While it was found to be technically feasible, storage of the carbon dioxide is a challenge, with very little space available on-site.
Encyclis Ireland has been contacted for comment.