The funding for the controversial facility, which won planning permission after a 16-year battle in 2006 (see letsrecycle.com story), is made up of £465 million in debt from Barclays Capital and the Bank of Ireland, with Cory Environmental supplying £105 million in equity.
Malcolm Ward, chief executive officer of Cory Environmental, said: “This is a significant milestone in the project's history. Construction work on the site started in January this year, and we are happy with progress to date. The way is now clear for work to start on the main development next month.”
Construction
At the Bexley site, the initial construction work that began in January (see letsrecycle.com story) has already seen sub-contractor Breheny complete the main access road, allowing for Swiss energy-from-waste specialists Von Roll Innova to move in.
Once complete, the proposed site will process uo to 585,000 tonnes of waste a year and be able to generate 72MW of electricity, enough to supply 66,000 houses, with the facility designed to keep open the possibility of generating combined heat and power.
However, the problem faced by Cory in January of there being no local demand for any excess heat generated by the plant has not been resolved and, despite claiming that it is not a concern, the company is still seeking an outlet.
A spokeswoman for the company said: “This has not been a problem. Riverside Resource Recovery Limited have engaged consultants to research an outlet for the heat and as yet they have not found one, but they are continuing to explore every opportunity.”
Cory also announced that the facility would be operational by January 1 2011, having previously hoped to have had the site live by the time the extended life-span on their Mucking landfill in Essex ran out at the end of 2010.
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