Danish shipping company DFDS and its partners from Geminor and Green Cargo tested a new environmentally-friendly transport of the refuse-derived fuel bales, from Geminor’s waste processing and packaging plant in the UK, to Mälerenergi’s power plant in Västerås near Stockholm.
RDF is a fuel produced from various types of wastes, such as municipal solid wastes (MSW), industrial or commercial wastes. The many Swedish power plants that can turn waste into electricity and heating have contributed to the country’s record reduction in CO2 emissions.
David Wallgren, Manager of Operations for Shipping Logistics & Special Cargo, explained:
It is a combination of road, ship and rail transport. 128 RDF bales, each weighing a tonne, were transported by truck to Immingham, where they were loaded into our ship on mega cassettes. When the ship arrived in Gothenburg, the RDF was reloaded onto rail wagons at the MIMAB terminal next to DFDS’ Gothenburg Ro-Ro terminal and transported by rail to the power plant in Västerås. There, it was combusted and turned into electricity and heating for Swedish homes.
The partnership means that Geminor processes and delivers the waste as RDF packed in bales, Green Cargo delivers the rail transport and DFDS looks after the sea transport and reloading in port.
Morgan Olausson, VP of BU North Sea North, said:
…As the test came out as a big success, I think that many power companies will see the benefits of using a supply chain as efficient and environmentally friendly as this.
