French firm Veolia has signed a £1bn agreement with Hertfordshire County Council to manage the county’s residual waste for 30 years at a proposed energy recovery facility.

The energy recovery facility will generate 33.5MW of electricity by processing 350,000t of residual waste to be collected annually.

Veolia’s senior executive vice president for the UK and Ireland zone Estelle Brachlianoff said: “Our partnership with Hertfordshire County Council has been strengthened following this new contract that will result in a significant investment in waste treatment infrastructure.

“This solution will not only maximise landfill diversion, but also represents a source of low carbon energy which will power 69,000 homes per year.”

Construction work on the new facility is expected to commence in 2017 — subject to planning permission. The project is expected to create over 300 jobs during the construction phase, as well as 40 permanent jobs.

The facility is expected to be operational in 2020.

* For more information on the UK construction market, visit the Construction Intelligence Center Report Store.