Site preparation work will begin immediately with completion scheduled for early 2016.
A consortium including the Green Investment Bank and Balfour Beatty is financing the power plant which is the first of its kind in the UK .
The plant, costing £48m, will be supplied with 67,000 tonnes of wood waste and year, generating enough renewable energy to power more than 17,000 homes.
Over its 20 year lifespan, the facility is expected to reduce greenhouse emissions by an estimated 2.1 million tonnes and save 1.3m tonnes of waste wood, otherwise destined for landfill.
Power is generated through the gasification of the waste wood, which is then burned to create steam which drives a turbine unit thereby generating electricity for export to the national grid; the gasification technology is provided by Nexterra Systems from Canada.
MWH is also currently in the development phase of two other energy from waste projects due to commence in 2014.
Ian Miller, Energy From Waste operations director, MWH Treatment said: “We are delighted to have secured this exciting opportunity to deliver and run this project – one which really makes a difference in terms of renewable technologies. I am especially pleased that our core engineering and construction expertise in design and build as well as our operational and maintenance capability is being fully utilised, creating real value for all parties involved.”