

Green Investment Group, a UK-based Macquarie affiliate, bought a 50-percent share in a Dublin waste-to-energy facility from Covanta Holding Corporation for €136 million.
The deal was the first of a partnership between GIG and Covanta, a global waste management firm headquartered in New Jersey, to develop and fund projects in the UK and Ireland, the firms announced.
“The projects developed under the partnership will extract energy from residual waste that would otherwise be lost to landfill, avoiding harmful methane emissions,” said Edward Northam, GIG’s Europe head.
Steve Jones, Covanta’s chief executive, added, “GIG and Covanta have highly complementary skills and resources, making this a powerful partnership to execute a robust combined pipeline of opportunities.”
The Dublin plant, which processes up to 600,000 tonnes of waste annually, is one of six projects that may be included in the partnership, according to GIG. It is also GIG’s first investment in Ireland.
Originally called the Green Investment Bank, GIG was launched in 2012 by the UK government. Macquarie bought the bank earlier this year for £2.3 billion ($3.08 billion; €2.59 billion), reaching the deal in April and completing the acquisition in August. Its first deal after the acquisition was also in the waste-to-energy space, as GIG provided a £207 million debt package for the UK’s 70MW Ferrybridge Multifuel 2. GIG has also partnered London-based Lightsource Renewable Energy for large-scale solar investments in India.
Covanta’s portfolio includes 43 waste-to-energy projects totalling 1.5GW in capacity.