Компания DP CleanTech запускает массовое строительство малых мусоросжигательных заводов в Великобритании для снижения затрат

The UK’s Small Waste Incineration Plant (SWIP) regime was introduced in 2017 with the intention of making it easier to build and operate smaller incineration plants. Under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016, a SWIP can process up to three tonnes of non-hazardous waste per hour. The regime was intended to open the door to smaller-scale Energy from Waste (EfW) solutions, which could be developed without the scale of investment required for larger plants. But despite the good intentions of the scheme, Simon Parker, CEO of DP CleanTech, explained that there has been relatively little take-up of the regime. He said: “There really haven’t been very many small waste plants that have actually come into operation.” DP CleanTech is a Waste to Energy (WtE) technology company, which has developed more than 320 biomass and EfW projects globally. The company has itself been brought in by an operator whose small-scale plant had experienced delays and cost overruns, giving it what Parker described as “a really good window” into what had gone wrong with the existing approach. For him, the fundamental issue remains cost. He compared the economics of bringing a plant online in the UK as “five times more expensive” than in China, where the company built more than 100 plants between 2006 and 2018. Parker believes the problem lies in the way projects are structured, with risk divided between multiple parties and additional layers of consultants, contracts and interfaces introduced to manage those risks. He added: “We’ve somehow walked ourselves inadvertently into ever increasing delays and ever-increasing costs that start compounding one on top of the other. “If you all are aligned around accepting that there’s risk and you all have ownership in managing that risk… you’re taking out layers and layers of complexity.” A standardised solution for small EfW It is against this backdrop that DP CleanTech has launched DP SWIPCo UK, a new company to provide a standardised EfW plant aimed at small and medium-sized waste operators. It is a joint venture between DP CleanTech and waste operators Dauson Environmental Group and Brooke Energy Group. Designed to process up to three tonnes of waste per hour, the new technology, SWIPSo, sits within the definition of a SWIP and uses DP CleanTech’s combustion technology in a compact, modular format. The company said the plant has been developed from the outset as a standardised solution for the UK market, with the aim of reducing the cost and complexity that Parker believes have made smaller EfW projects difficult to deliver. The technology is intended to address what DP CleanTech sees as a gap between the policy framework for smaller waste plants and the economic reality of delivering them. Rather than designing a new plant for every individual site, the company is looking to create a repeatable model. The first step was to standardise the waste input, with RDF providing what Parker described as a more homogeneous fuel. From there, the objective is to use the same plant design repeatedly, with a defined footprint and standardised equipment and connections. The SWIPSo is therefore designed around a compact, modular layout, with the plant intended to fit inside a standard industrial building. Sharing the risk Alongside the standardised engineering, DP CleanTech is proposing a different commercial model. The joint venture involves waste operators and developers, with the intention of sharing both the economic benefits and risks associated with developing plants. Parker explained: “We’re not pushing risk from one side to the other.” He sees this as a departure from a model where project risks are divided between multiple parties, creating interfaces that then need to be managed through contracts and professional services. The company’s approach is instead to align the interests of the parties involved in developing and operating a plant. Reducing those interfaces is expected to reduce project costs and make smaller facilities more commercially viable. SWIPSo’s next steps SWIPSo remains at an early stage, but Parker said the design has now been completed and work is under way on the first two plants with the company’s joint venture partners. At present, they have committed to building 10 plants, which Parker said would make the venture a significant operator in the UK SWIP market if all were delivered. The company has not yet put a specific capital cost on the plants, but the CEO said the first two projects are already coming in below current market expectations. He also expects the cost and delivery times to improve further as more units are built. The first two plants are currently dependent on permitting before construction can begin. While the immediate focus is on the UK SWIP market, Parker sees the underlying idea as broader than the three-tonne-per-hour limit. He added: “We’re trying to deploy on a massive scale a different philosophy. “The potential of this is absolutely huge, as long as we address the core issue, which is cost.” DP SWIPCo will be exhibiting at the Energy, Fuels and Decarbonisation Expo (EFD Expo) on 16-17 September 2026, at Stand EN-F76, where visitors can find out more about its SWIPSo technology.