EIB invests £110m in Wales waste-to-energy plant

The European Investment Bank has committed £110 million ($156 million; €142 million) to the largest waste-to-energy centre in Wales, the 30MW Cardiff Energy Recovery Facility.

Viridor, a renewable energy and waste management company owned by Pennon Group, said the investment will support the new facility, which will divert 95 percent of non-recyclable waste in South Wales away from landfills. The waste-to-recycle centre will handle 350,000 tonnes of waste annually.

Susan Davy, Pennon Group’s director of finance, said the Cardiff Energy Recovery Facility was a “world-class plant” that was built on schedule and below budget. This is Viridor’s eighth waste recycling plant in the UK. When three more facilities are completed by 2019, the plants will generate a combined 242MW.

“Significant investment in energy recovery technology allows energy to be recovered from waste that cannot be recycled or reused and would previously have been sent to landfill sites,” said Jonathan Taylor, a vice-president at the EIB.

The waste-to-energy industry is gaining traction in the UK. Last November, the Bioenergy Infrastructure Group (BIG) reached financial close on a large-scale waste-to-energy project in East Yorkshire. The £200 million project is the second for BIG, a joint venture between Infracapital, Aurium, Helios and EIB-backed Foresight Group.