British Airways, Solena Plan to Create 1,200 London Jobs at Biofuels Plant

British Airways Plc and Solena Group Inc. plan to build a waste-to-biofuels plant in east London, creating 1,200 jobs, sending less trash to the landfill and reducing jet emissions of greenhouse gases.

Solena, which will spend as much as $300 million on the site, has identified two potential locations near Dagenham, east of London, Solena Chief Executive Officer Robert Do said in an interview at the Farnborough Air Show in southern England. About 1,000 construction jobs will be created, with 200 employees needed to operate the factory, he said.

British Airways, trying to cut its carbon emissions as airlines prepare to enter the European Union’s cap-and trade system in 2012, will buy all of the plant’s 16 million gallons of biofuel annually for up to 10 years, said Jonathon Counsell, the airline’s head of environment.

“Once it’s been proven to be successful, we would look to build many more of these plants,” Counsell said in an interview in Farnborough. “We’re trying to encourage other airlines to go down this route so that there are plants all around the world and we can pick up this product anywhere we fly.”

Subject to planning consent, construction east of London is scheduled to start next year, with biofuel production beginning in mid-2014, Do said. The company is in talks with banks, private equity companies and pension funds to finance the project, he said.

95% Lower

The biofuel, with a carbon footprint 95 percent lower than conventional airline fuels, will be blended with jet fuel, Counsell said. The amount produced will be about 2 percent of British Airways’ annual fuel consumption and double what it uses at London’s nearby City Airport, Counsell said. BA is still deciding whether to sell the surplus to other airlines at City Airport or to take it to Heathrow or Gatwick airports, he said.

Solena is negotiating with London’s four biggest waste management companies to get feedstock for the plant, Do said, declining to name the firms. The Washington-based bio-energy company will take plastics, paper and food leftovers that would otherwise go to landfill, saving the waste companies from paying taxes on trash, he said.

“We’ll get it for free essentially, and if there’s a transport fee, we’ll pay for it,” Do said. The company will use about 1,500 tons of waste a day, and as well as creating biofuel, the plant will generate about 40 megawatts of electricity, he said. Half of that will be used to run the plant, and the other half exported to the power grid.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Morales in London at amorales2@bloomberg.net.

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