On Thursday, 14 December 2006, Enschede mayor P.E.J. den Oudsten and Hengelo alderman H. Kok—Regio Twente chairman and executive committee member, respectively—ceremoniously drove the first pile into the construction site for a third line at the Twence B.V. waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration plant in Hengelo.

The third incineration line will be capable of converting 220,000 tonnes of (industrial) waste into energy each year. Once the plant becomes operational, it will produce 180 GW of heat and 135 GW of electricity on an annual basis.

This third line is planned to go into operation in mid-2008. Part of the heat it generates will go to the “Hart van Zuid” redevelopment project in the city of Hengelo. With a surface area of 50 hectares, this is one of the largest inner-city redevelopment sites in the Netherlands.

For the construction of this third line, an international team of leading companies has been formed. The participating members of this team are: