Meridiam awarded a major waste to energy project in Poland

This Public Private Partnership contract will serve the needs in electricity and heat of the 270,000 inhabitants of the city. The project consists of the design, construction, finance and operation and maintenance of a waste to energy plant for electricity and heat.

The project has a strong climate rationale as it will enable the municipality to replace its current coal fired facilities with renewables sources to provide heat to its population. While avoiding the emissions of more than 60,000 tons of CO2 per year, this project is a concrete contribution to the fight against climate change and circular economy (United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 8, 12 and 13).

This project directly contributes to European policy aiming at reducing the share of landfills as waste management tools and increasing the recovery of energy from waste. It will be a critical contribution of Poland to these EU objectives. Meridiam is proud to add this project to its “circular economy” platform following innovative methanization and biogas projects across France, Spain and Germany.

A waste to energy plant not only generates green energy and heat but it also reduces dependency on fossil fuels. It dramatically reduces by almost 200% greenhouse gases compared to landfills. And finally, they generate economic and jobs development. Olztyn project is expected to create more than 500 new jobs during the construction phase and 30 during the management phase.

Meridiam, which holds 80% of the project, has partnered with Urbaser (20%), a world leader in environmental management active in three main areas: urban services, waste and water treatment. Total project costs will amount to € 165 million and will benefit from some European Union subsidies. This waste to energy project is the second Meridiam and Urbaser have developed together. Located, in the Spanish Basque country, the Zubieta project will come into operation this October 2019.