The Councils of Derbyshire and Derby have urged the financial institutions to intervene in the Sinfin waste-to-energy plant that has been delayed for two years. 

The financial problems of the project could be attributed to the internal problems in Interserve, the construction firm selected to develop the project. The plant is being built by Resource Recovery Solutions (Derbyshire) Ltd (RRS), a partnership of Interserve and waste management company Renewi.

In spite of being on the schedule, the councils noted that RRS “has still not been able to resolve ongoing issues at the plant to allow it to pass the certified performance tests needed to bring it into full service”. The two councils reaffirmed their commitment to the project urging the bank's initiatives to resolve the issues. 

The project is being funded by the UK Green Infrastructure Platform and three international banks: Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Shinsei Bank from Japan and Bayerische Landesbank from Germany.

The councils warned that if the banks fail to take action, they will end the contract awarded to RRS and put measures in place to fix problems at the site so that the facility can be made fully operational. The plant was supposed to open in 2017.