The Welsh Government has confirmed it will be providing £4.2 million of funding annually – or £105 million in total – for a 25-year waste-to-energy project.

Prosiect Gwyrdd is a waste partnership of five local authorities in Wales to treat as much household waste as possible at the waste-to-energy plant (pictured) at Trident Park in Cardiff. The facility, currently under construction, will be able to treat up to 350,000 tonnes of waste every year – generating around 30MW of electricity, enough to power 50,000 homes.

The partner authorities are expected to save around £500 million overall, with £11.4 million projected savings for the first year of the contract. The Welsh Government has set a target of limiting sending waste to landfill to no more than 10% by 2020 and 5% by 2025.

Alun Davies, Minister for Natural Resources said: “At a time when councils across Wales are facing an unprecedentedly difficult financial climate and working to improve services with reduced resources, Prosiect Gwyrdd will help councils in south east Wales save money, which can instead be spent on our schools, libraries and roads.

“As well as creating jobs in the waste and resource management industry and saving our councils money, Prosiect Gwyrdd will cut Wales’s carbon emissions and help reduce climate change.”

Waste management company Viridor was chosen as the preferred bidder for the contract to operate the EfW facility, with the option for a five-year extension.