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CIP and FCC to build one of Europe’s largest EfW plants in the UK

Denmark-headed fund management company, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners K/S (CIP) and FCC Environment, one of the UK’s leading resource and waste management businesses have announced that they have reached financial close on the Lostock Sustainable Energy Plant (LSEP). Once operational in 2023, it will be one of the largest energy-from-waste (EfW) plants in the United Kingdom (UK) and Europe.

Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners K/S (CIP) and FCC Environment, one of the UK’s leading resource and waste management businesses have announced that they have reached financial close on the Lostock Sustainable Energy Plant (LSEP). Once operational in 2023, it will be one of the largest energy-from-waste (EfW) plants in the United Kingdom (UK) and Europe.

Located in Lostock, Northwest England, the GBP480 million (≈ EUR 555.3 million) Lostock Sustainable Energy Plant (LSEP) project has been given the green light for construction by owners Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (60 percent) and FCC Environment (40 percent) after the project reached financial close on March 26, 2019.

The energy-from-waste (EfW) plant will process 600 000 tonnes of waste per annum, which will contribute to the UK government’s strategy to reduce landfill and export of waste. With an electrical capacity of 60 MWe, the Lostock facility will be among the biggest EfW plants in the UK as well as Europe while bringing hundreds of local jobs to the area during construction as well as around 50 permanent jobs in the operations phase.

Steam offtake

The EfW plant will be built on the land of Tata Chemicals Europe (TCE), one of Europe’s leading producers of sodium carbonate (soda ash), salt and sodium bicarbonate, and other products.

The plant will through site upgrades and mutual offtake agreements for steam and sodium bicarbonate deliver significant new infrastructure for TCE’s soda ash plant and wider Lostock site and thereby underpin TCE operations and jobs for the long term.

FCC Environment, one of the UK’s leading resource and waste management businesses, will be responsible for operating the plant as O&M and fuel supplier and will source, and deliver the 600 000 tonnes of waste that the plant will process each year.

Today is a milestone for the waste treatment industry here in the UK which is facing a severe capacity gap for the treatment of unrecyclable residual waste. We already successfully operate a number of plants here in the UK generating some 102 MW of green energy with a new plant due to come on stream in Edinburgh later this summer. So this development forms an important part of our strategy to continuously invest in the waste-related infrastructure that is crucial for this country’s ability to process waste and power homes across the UK both today and in the future. We also maintain our strategy to strengthen FCC’s UK position as EfW owner, supplier and UK operator, said Paul Taylor, Chief Executive, FCC Environment Group.

Construction start

The two-boiler line project will be built by a consortium led by CNIM, an international specialist that designs, builds, and operates turnkey plants for the treatment of household waste and non-hazardous commercial and industrial waste.

Reaching financial close marks the green light for them to initiate manufacturing and construction.

The construction process will consist of two phases, starting with a 15-month enabling works programme followed by a three-year building phase including six months of commissioning. The plant is scheduled to commence operations at the end of the second quarter of 2023.

We are proud to be involved in the Lostock Sustainable Energy Plant on behalf of the CI III fund. We entered the project in the late development phase in September 2017 and have worked closely with the developers and FCC to reach financial close. We are excited to engage in the construction phase with CNIM and to have formed a long-term strategic partnership with FCC – a leading waste management company with a long track record within waste and operations management. The project will convert waste into renewable energy and create hundreds of local jobs during the construction and operation phases. We look forward to utilizing our unique competences and experience from our existing thermal renewable energy projects, working closely with the local community and our partners, said Christina Grumstrup Sørensen, Senior Partner at CIP.

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