A £7MILLION project to provide electricity to 8,000 homes using landfill gas will finally be unveiled today after years of delays.

Revolutionary equipment at Pitsea tip will convert rotting waste gas into electricity instead of burning it off in the familiar huge firestacks.

An underground power line links the huge dump in Pitsea Hall Lane to the National Grid supply, which will then be wired into homes across the county.

In the past year, Cleanaway, the company managing the tip, has built 1,000 wells and 65,000 metres of pipework deep into the site.

As many as 42,000 trees and shrubs have been planted to create a nature-rich environment and 72,000 more are in the pipeline.

MP John Baron was today due to press the red button to start the plant, powered by six new generators to create 8.4 megawatts of electricity from household waste.

Published Friday, December 9, 2005