Joint venture continues its major investment at Fife's Westfield Green Energy Park

The joint venture is between international investor Equitix and renewable energy and waste management company Viridor.

The key focus of the development is the construction of a 200,000 tonne energy-from-waste plant at the former open cast coal site. The plant will generate significant activity on the site and will be able to offer cheap renewable heat and power to attract other industrial operators to invest in the Energy Park.

The facility is being constructed by Hitatchi Zosen Inova (HZI) with the client construction mangement services being provided by Brockwell Energy.

Construction of the £220 million project started in December 2021 and the ERF plant is due to be receiving waste by September this year and fully operational in May 2025.

The Westfield ERF is designed to be able to convert the energy contained within residential waste into both electricity and heat, a proven and reliable design.

Sean McManus, deputy project manager at Westfield ERF said: “The buildings’ 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 onsite completing construction of the Steam Turbine and Generator package and 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 and are running behavioural safety campaigns over the next few months.”

Working with the local supply chain has meant local engagement, creating various job opportunities within the local economy. There are currently 450 people on site on construction during day shift. One of the local suppliers is Precia-Molen UK Ltd, who manufactures Brockwell’s weighbridges in Dunfermline.

Marina Campbell, managing director said, “The HZI Westfield has indeed been a project that the whole team in Fife has been involved in and has been a delight to deliver. Tendered by our national regional manager, it was managed through the local team and will be installed by our engineers who live in Fife.”

This efficient use of waste reduces the necessity for landfill and is aligned with the move towards a circular economy and facing the key challenges of sustainability. Fife Council already has a deal in place to send 160,000 tonnes of waste to Westfield once operational and the project will create 40 long term skilled roles in the future.