10 JUNE 2008 - COVANTA ENERGY TARGETS UK MARKET

Covanta Energy, the world’s leading operator of Energy from Waste (EfW) facilities, intends to become a major player in the European EfW sector, with a particular focus on the UK EfW market. 

Scott Whitney, who is the former Senior Vice President of business development for Covanta Energy Corporation, has been appointed to the position of President Covanta – Europe. Scott has over 20 years experience in the development and implementation of EfW and renewable energy projects. He will be based at Covanta’s UK headquarters in Kingswinford, West Midlands and will be responsible for the development and operation of Covanta’s EfW and renewable energy business throughout Europe. 

Covanta made its initial entry into the UK EfW market in 2005 when Whitney tapped Malcolm Chilton, an experienced executive in the UK EfW sector, to be Covanta UK’s Managing Director. Malcolm will continue to report to Scott under Covanta’s new organisational structure for Europe. “Malcolm has more EfW development experience than almost anyone in the UK”, said Whitney. “We are very fortunate to have an executive of his calibre heading up our UK efforts. I look forward to continuing to work with him as he leads the outstanding team of industry professionals that we have assembled to support Covanta’s major push into the UK EfW market.”

Since entering the UK market in 2005, Covanta has continued to strengthen its UK team with the appointment of Paul Cole as the company’s Engineering Director and, more recently, Peter Wright, who joined Covanta in March of this year (from SITA) as Development Director.

Covanta Energy UK’s Managing Director, Malcolm Chilton, said: “There is a great opportunity for Covanta to expand its operations here in the UK. Paul and Peter will both play pivotal roles in developing the company’s presence in this growing market.”

Covanta operates 37 EfW facilities around the world, and uses modern, efficient and proven EfW technology designed to operate well within stringent EU standards. Its current European EfW activities include a partnership with Actelios for the operation of the Trezzo sull’Adda plant, which is located in the Lombardy region of Italy and produces 18 megawatts of electricity which is sold  into the Italian National Transmission Grid.

Covanta Energy’s biggest European success to date came in 2007, when it  executed a contract, in partnership with DONG Energy Generation A/S, a Danish company, to design, build and operate a 600,000 tonne per annum EfW facility in Poolbeg, Dublin.

Construction of the Dublin facility is expected to begin in early 2009 and is estimated to require 36 months to complete.