FCC heads the consortium that will build the centre, where municipal solid waste from the entire Guipúzcoa region will be treated. The centre will include a mechanical biological pre-treatment plant, an energy-from-waste plant, and ancillary facilities. It will be located in Arzabaleta, in the San Sebastián neighbourhood of Zubieta.

Energy for 68,000 households
 
The facility will be built on a 54,268 m² site. It will have an annual treatment capacity of 320,000 tonnes, of which 208,000 tonnes/year will be general household waste, 62,000 general commercial waste, 20,000 non-compostable non-recyclable waste, and 30,000 biosludge.
 
The centre will produce 203 GWh/year of electricity, i.e. enough to power around 68,000 households.

The mechanical biological pre-treatment plant will process general household waste via aerobic digestion of the most biodegradable components; the resulting heat will be used to dry the residue. This will reduce the amount of waste to be incinerated and increase its heating value. Before converting the waste to energy, metals will be separated for recycling.

Once the waste is processed, it will be burned in the energy-from-waste plant, where the heat from combustion will generate steam to drive a turbine, which will produce electricity. The electricity generated will meet the facilities' own energy needs and the bulk will be sold to the grid. 

The combustion gases will be scrubbed before release into the atmosphere, complying with the most stringent requirements on pollutant concentrations. The facilities will also be equipped with a catalytic reduction system for advanced NOx reduction, reducing NOx emissions to just 35% of permitted levels.

CO₂ emission reduction

Producing energy from waste reduces CO₂ emissions by close to 35,000 tonnes/year when compared with average figures for fossil fuel plants (natural gas, oil, coal) in the Spanish electricity system. Avoided emissions could reach up to 57,000 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent per year.

Producing energy from waste provides primary energy savings of around 34,000 tonnes of oil equivalent.

This project was promoted by GIPUZKOAKO HONDAKINEN KUDEAKETA, S.A.U. (GHK), a company owned by the Guipúzcoa Waste Consortium, which comprises the provincial government and all the municipalities in the province.