Despite the slump in the market for waste, Twence Waste and Energy can look back upon 2009 as an excellent year. At €10.7 million, its net result was even a fraction better than that of the previous year. The stronger result was due in part to the third incineration line’s going into operation at the waste-to-energy plant.

At their Annual Meeting, Twence shareholders decided to add the profit from 2009 to the general reserves. A dividend worth nearly €9.1 million was paid out to shareholders, in part as a contribution towards funding Regio Twente’s “Agenda of Twente” programme.

Twence expects the market for waste to deteriorate further in 2010, with prices being under pressure. The drop in electricity rates, due in part to the economic crisis, is also having a major impact on revenues. Despite those developments, Twence nevertheless expects to remain in the black this year as well.

In 2009, Twence processed more than 830,000 tonnes of waste at its Boeldershoek and Elhorst-Vloedbelt sites. Over 90% of that waste was converted into raw materials, construction materials and energy. Thanks in part to the third incineration line’s being made operational, the energy production at Twence increased to 422 GWh.

In 2009, construction began on a pipeline to supply heat to Essent’s heat-and-power plant in Enschede for use in district heating. Likewise, preparations were made for building a steam duct to AkzoNobel in Hengelo, where steam is currently being used to evaporate brine to obtain salt. Both projects will be completed in 2010, so that energy can also be supplied in the form of heat and steam later this year. In this way, energy production is gaining an increasing share in the total turnover of Twence.