Extracting energy from waste with enfinium

enfinium’s state of the art Ferrybridge 1 and 2 facilities generate a combined 150MW of electricity annually, supplying clean energy to the National Grid and powering up to 370,000 homes and businesses across the local community.

Unlike some renewable energy sources that depend on weather conditions, energy from waste provides a stable and reliable baseload power supply no matter the weather. By harnessing Britain's unrecyclable waste, enfinium is playing a vital role in strengthening the UK's energy security as the nation transitions away from fossil fuels.

enfinium fully supports measures that encourage reuse, reduce and recycling to reduce the UK’s waste, their EfW facilities using waste that would otherwise go to landfill to generate clean electricity.

Whilst this process does release some carbon dioxide, waste sent to landfill emits more harmful methane emissions, can lead to soil and water contamination, and does not generate useful energy. By integrating waste management with energy production, EfW facilities not only help to decarbonise the heat industry and the power system, but also supports a sustainable, circular economy. 

Beyond waste management, enfinium further reinforced its commitment to waste reduction in 2024 by launching a flagship support fund for local Repair Cafés. With a £60,000 investment over three years, the initiative helps Repair Cafés near its UK operations fix repairable goods, reduce waste, and save families money, demonstrating enfinium’s dedication to sustainability.

enfinium fully support the principle that the waste sector needs to reduce its emissions, and there is great potential for the EfW sector to meaningfully support the UK’s transition to a net zero economy, particularly through the application of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology.

Through the implementation of CCS, EfW facilities can capture the biogenic carbon embedded in the waste stream, such as food and packaging waste, removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and delivering carbon removals.

Some industries, such as aviation and agriculture, will take decades to decarbonise. So, to offset these ongoing emissions, more immediate action is needed. enfinium are advancing their plans to install carbon capture technology across their facilities, with the potential to remove millions of tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere every year.

Since our partnership began in October 2022, we have provided enfinium with superior market control and pricing to help them optimise energy sales.

Via our Flexible PPA product, they can take a more hands on approach to selling their power. With the ability to track and react to wholesale market opportunities via our Smartflex platform, and direct contact and ongoing support from our experienced in-house trading team, enfinium can take advantage of the wholesale market and maximise their revenues from Ferrybridge 1 and 2.  

This partnership enhances our existing portfolio of wind, solar, and Energy from Waste PPAs, further strengthening our renewable energy supply offering to our C&I customers.

Collaborating with operators like enfinium enables us to connect more customers to clean energy sources—advancing both the UK’s and our own decarbonisation and energy security goals.