GIB invests £20 million in energy from waste plant and rail hubs

A £244 million rail interchange and energy recovery centre is to be developed with support from the UK Green Investment Bank.

The completed facility in South Gloucestershire will convert up to 300,000 tonnes of residual household waste into energy every year.

The waste is collected from six West London boroughs, serving a population of 1.6 million people.

The project will enable over 96 per cent of this material to be diverted from landfill.

The new facility will produce enough electricity to power the equivalent of 50,000 homes and save more than two million tonnes of CO₂ over the duration of the contract.

It is expected that the Severnside Energy Recovery Centre (SERC) facility will support up to 200 jobs onsite during the construction phase and many others throughout the supply chain. Once up and running, the facility will create up to 53 new permanent jobs.

The project is part of a 25-year contract between the West London Waste Authority and a consortium led by SITA UK, Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP) and the ITOCHU Corporation. 

GIB will invest £20 million of the senior debt alongside a lending club of Credit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Mizuho Bank. Equity will be provided by SITA UK, Japan's ITOCHU Corporation and Scottish Widows Investment Partnership.

"This is a model investment for us. Our mandate is to help mobilise significant sums of private money to invest in important UK infrastructure projects that are both green and profitable. With this project, every £1 of GIB investment brings £11 of other capital, much of it from international investors. The project will bring about an immediate environmental benefit; instead of residual waste from 1.6 million people being sent to landfill each year, it will be used to create enough energy to power the equivalent of 50,000 households."

Shaun Kingsbury
Chief executive officer of the UK Green Investment Bank

"This is another green infrastructure deal that has got over the line thanks to the involvement of the UK Green Investment Bank. The level of private sector investment it has brought in is impressive and the project will have a significant green impact - diverting waste from landfill and converting it into energy for tens of thousands of homes and businesses.  It will also create over 250 new jobs in Gloucestershire."

Vince Cable
Business Secretary