Financing closed for North Yorkshire waste PPP project
The UK Green Investment Bank (GIB) has announced its £33 million (US$52.7 million) investment for the North Yorkshire waste to energy PPP project.
The project is expected to process up to 320,000 tonnes of household, commercial and industrial waste per year. It will divert more than 7 million tonnes of waste from landfill over its lifetime - equivalent to the annual waste arisings of more than 300,000 households - and recover over 1.5 million tonnes of recyclable materials.
In addition, it will generate 203 GWh of electricity per year, enough to power over 40,000 households.
The PPP project is being developed by North Yorkshire County Council and City of York Council alongside sponsors AmeyCespa (Ferrovial Group), Aberdeen UK Infrastructure Partners (a fund managed by Aberdeen Asset Management) and Equitix.
GIB will provide long-term loan financing and an equity bridge loan alongside Nord/LB, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Siemens Bank, KfW-IPEX and the European Investment Bank (EIB). This is the first joint-investment between GIB and EIB.
The total project investment is estimated at £319.5 million (US$510.5 million)
The new facility in Allerton, between Harrogate and York, will be constructed at an existing landfill and quarry site by contractor AmeyCespa, who will operate the plant on completion. This will be AmeyCespa's largest waste project to date.
It is GIB's first waste investment to feature such an extensive range of waste treatments and advanced technology. The new treatment plant will enable value to be recovered from almost every aspect of North Yorkshire County Council and City of York Council's waste, including:
- Mechanical treatment facility that will recover metal, paper and plastic for recycling;
- Onsite anaerobic digestion plant to treat organic waste which will generate around 8 GWh of renewable electricity per year; and
- Energy-from-waste facility that will produce steam to feed an electricity generating turbine, generating 203 GWh of electricity - enough to supply the equivalent of more than 40,000 homes.
The project will process all of the residual waste from North Yorkshire County Council and the City of York with the remaining capacity of the plant used to process commercial and industrial waste sourced by AmeyCespa.
Shaun Kingsbury, Chief Executive, UK Green Investment Bank, said:
This innovative project is a best-in-class example of how local authorities can improve recycling and generate significant amounts of renewable power from household waste. GIB is proud of its track record supporting innovation in the waste and recycling sector and particularly pleased that this impressive facility is the first to feature the full complement of waste treatments and new technologies.
