Environmental services group Veolia has decided to shut down its waste wood-fuelled biomass power plant in Zapfendorf after careful consideration of all options the decision was made in response to the changed conditions in the electricity market and "above all the lack of local political will" which made it impossible to operate the site in an economically viable manner There had long been market speculation that Veolia would take such a step Veolia acquired the facility in northern Bavaria in 2016 from the Berlin-based investment firm Apex Capital GmbH which had in turn acquired the power plant from the waste management company Remondis in early 2012 the Zapfendorf plant was the first waste wood recovery capacity owned by Veolia in Germany which has an output of 5.6 MW of electricity and can combust up to 64,000 tonnes per year of all grades of waste wood including wood containing preservatives or other hazardous substances (categories A I to A IV under German legislation) The site also has its own processing facility for wood waste it supplies neighbouring factories and a sewage treatment plant with heat and process steam the power plant had benefited from subsidies under Germany’s Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) despite "intense efforts and talks with all involved parties" no agreement could be reached to amend the existing land-use plan This plan limits the facility to using only waste wood as a fuel the construction of a local heating network and the sale of heat would have played an important role in "ensuring the future economic viability and sustainability" of the site we would have been able to supply heat for the equivalent of 5,000 households and make a significant contribution to the local energy transition This would have made sense from an economical and environmental perspective," explained site manager Pascal Jahn As a result of the changing market conditions "only the most efficient and flexible power plants will survive in the future" stressing that energy recovery of waste wood will "continue to play an important role” Had it been possible to convert the "very reliable" power plant into a heating plant Veolia said it "could have contributed to a secure energy supply for many years to come" With the cessation of operations at the Zapfendorf plant southern Germany is losing a dependable treatment facility for highly contaminated waste wood grades which is widely relied upon by many construction and demolition firms Customer Service+49 7224 9397-701 servicenoSpam@GO-AWAYeuwid.de Editorial Team+49 7224 9397-0 recyclingnoSpam@GO-AWAYeuwid.com Get the latest news about developments and trends in the industry sent to you once a week free of charge by newsletter Sign up for our newsletter We use cookies and external services on our website others enhance your user experience or help us improve this website You can change your privacy settings any time by clicking privacy policy Necessary cookies are required for the correct functioning of the website Content from video and social media platforms is blocked by default. If access to these services is accepted, separate consent is no longer required when using them. You can find more information on the individual external services in our privacy policy The European Commission announced last week that it had approved a French aid programme for companies investing in the use of solid recovered fuels (SRF) The government plans to provide a total of €300m in direct subsidies in support of the transition to a net-zero economy including coverage of a coal-fired power plant conversion project being carried out as part of a Paprec / EdF partnership:.. Content from video and social media platforms is blocked by default. If access to these services is accepted, separate consent is no longer required when using them. You can find more information on the individual external services in our privacy policy.