Crisis talks held over completion of Belvedere EfW

Crisis talks are being held over the completion of Cory Environmental's energy-from-waste plant at Belvedere in South East London after the ultimate owner of the main contractor for the project initiated insolvency proceedings.

The plant is being built on the banks of the River Thames and is set to be the largest energy-from-waste plant in the country once operational. It is being developed by Swiss engineering firm AE&E Innova (formerly Von Roll Innova) and its subcontractor, the construction company Costain (see letsrecycle.com story).

However, today (November 29), Costain issued a statement explaining that it was in ‘active discussions” with both AE&E Innova and Cory regarding the financing and completion of the project.

This is because AE&E Innova is owned by AE&E Innova Holding AG which is in turn owned by AE&E Group GmbH, which last week applied for ‘insolvency proceedings under external administration'.

Costain said that despite the insolvency of AE&E Group, AE&E Innova had advised Costain that it was continuing to trade and that its board would be meeting tomorrow (November 30) regarding the future of the company.

Costain said there were currently no overdue payments from AE&E Innova to Costain and that the next payment of £2.6 million was due on December 10, which AE&E said it would honour. However, Costain explained that it was owed £22 million for work in progress and said it wanted to be certain that it would be paid before undertaking any more work.

It said: “Costain has sought assurances from AE&E Innova that they will make all future payments due under the contract. However, Costain considers that there can be no certainty that such assurances can be obtained.

“In light of the insolvency of AE&E Group GmbH, Costain is engaged in active discussions with both AE&E Innova and Cory Environmental regarding the financing and completion of the project.”

Cory

A spokesman for Cory Environmental said that it was making every effort to ensure the project was unaffected.

He said: “AE&E Group's subsidiary AE&E Inova AG is the EPC contractor on Cory's Riverside Resource Recovery project. We are working closely with AE&E and its personnel and subcontractors to ensure that the facility can continue to be constructed without undue disruption.”

Mike Wilkins, managing director of AE&E UK, told letsrecycle.com that his company was still trading.

He said: “Innova AG and its subsidiaries are not in any form of reorganisation proceedings.”