1 week Ago
A new report from a British government department could see Irish renewables investment firm Solar 21 face an uphill battle to get vital – and long-awaited –consent for a new waste-to-energy facility that is central to its plan to repay hundreds of millions to Irish investors. Solar 21 is awaiting an order from the UK government’s Department for Energy Security & Net Zero to grant development consent for its proposed North Lincolnshire Green Energy Park. The firm owes more than €300m to about 4,000 Irish investors.
The sale of the proposed project is earmarked to provide about £100m towards repaying investors as part of a High Court approved scheme of arrangement. That expected value is dependent on permission from the UK government with a final decision on whether the facility is to be permitted is due in March. But new research has now been published by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs “to support decision-makers in planning for residual waste treatment needs”.
The research lays out results that it states “should be used to ensure that we do not deliver overcapacity, especially where this risks compromising waste prevention or recycling now or in the future”. “While there are a number of waste incineration facilities that are consented, but not yet under construction, these will not be brought forward to construction if sufficient waste volumes cannot be secured via contracts to make a proposed development financially viable,” it said. The research said that the UK government is committed to transitioning to a circular economy “in which we maximise resource use and minimise residual waste arisings”.
The department would “only support the development of further residual waste treatment infrastructure where they meet a clearly defined need to facilitate the diversion of non-recyclable waste away from landfill, or enable the replacement of older, less-efficient facilities,” it said. The application was referred by local planners to the department in 2023 and it has delayed making a decision on a number of occasions. Development consent was granted for the Boston Alternative Energy Facility in 2023, located in the same waste catchment area as Solar 21’s proposed development.
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