Company Announcements

Newhurst EfW facility

Source: RNS
RNS Number : 6404C
Biffa plc
11 February 2020
 

 

11 February 2020


Biffa reaches strategic milestone at Newhurst EfW facility

 

Biffa plc (LSE: BIFF), the leading sustainable waste management company, today announces that it has reached financial close on the Newhurst Energy-from-Waste ('EfW') facility in Leicestershire, alongside its joint venture partners, Covanta Holding Corporation (NYSE: CVA) and Macquarie's Green Investment Group.

 

The facility, located adjacent to Junction 23 of the M1, is a significant addition to the UK's waste management infrastructure. It supports the Government's drive to both reduce reliance on landfill and treat more non-recyclable waste at home, reducing dependence on export.  The facility will provide 350,000 tonnes of annual treatment capacity for non-recyclable waste and will also generate up to 42 megawatts of electricity, enough to power around 80,000 homes, and is expected to commence operations in 2023.

 

Over 300 jobs will be created during the construction period, which will begin shortly, providing related benefits to the local economy. Many opportunities will also be created for the local supply chain with a commitment from the project to purchase goods and services from local companies wherever possible. The project combines Biffa's expertise and scale in waste management and control of significant feedstocks with Covanta's development and operational experience in EfW. Biffa will provide 70% of the fuel for the facility each year, from its existing local waste collection services, and Covanta will supply operations and maintenance services.

 

The facility will use proven technology and operate to the highest environmental standards. It will be built by Hitachi Zosen Innova, a global leader in EfW engineering and construction under a turnkey Engineering, Procurement and Construction contract. The total project construction cost, excluding financing costs, will be c£285m-£295m, with Biffa owning 50% of the facility. As previously disclosed, Biffa's financial commitment to the project will amount to c£45m, which will be invested over the coming three years from existing facilities.

 

Protos Update

 

Biffa continues to make good progress with the planning of its second EfW facility, Protos, at Ince Marshes in Cheshire, which is also being developed in partnership with Covanta Holding Corporation and Macquarie's Green Investment Group. Whilst the project is well progressed, the development process is taking longer than anticipated and has resulted in a delay to financial completion. A further update on this process will be provided in due course.

 

Michael Topham, Biffa Chief Executive commented:

"Biffa has a leading role to play in developing the recycling and energy from waste facilities that the UK needs if it is to become a low-carbon, resource-efficient economy. Reaching this milestone at the Newhurst facility, along with our ambitious investments in recycling, are vital steps in the delivery of our strategic investment plans. We look forward to working with our partners to further reduce the UK's reliance on landfill or export for managing its non-recyclable waste."

 

 Enquiries:


Michael Topham, Chief Executive Officer

Richard Pike, Chief Financial Officer

ir@biffa.co.uk

 

Houston

Kate Hoare/Anushka Mathew
E: biffa@houston.co.uk

T: 0203 701 7660

About Biffa

Biffa, is the UK's leading sustainable waste management business. We have over 8,000 employees working across more than 200 sites to change the way people think about waste. We operate across the waste management value chain, including the collection, treatment, processing and disposal of waste, as well as the production and sale of recovered commodities such as energy, paper, glass, metals and plastic. We are first choice for customers, with our national customer base including local authorities, large corporates and SMEs, and purchasers of end-product commodities and energy. In FY20 we structured into  two divisions: Collections and Resources & Energy. In FY19, the Group's total revenue was £1,091.2m and its Underlying EBITDA was £150.7m. Biffa has been listed on the London Stock Exchange since  October 2016 under the ticker "BIFF".

For more information visit www.biffa.co.uk/investors 

About Covanta

Covanta is a world leader in providing sustainable waste and energy solutions. Annually, Covanta's modern Energy-from-Waste facilities safely convert approximately 21 million tons of waste from municipalities and businesses into clean, renewable electricity to power one million homes and recycle over 600,000 tons of metal.

Through a vast network of treatment and recycling facilities, Covanta also provides comprehensive industrial material management services to companies seeking solutions to some of today's most complex environmental challenges. For more information, visit covanta.com.

About Macquarie's Green Investment Group

Macquarie's Green Investment Group is a specialist in green infrastructure principal investment, project development and delivery, green impact advisory and the management of portfolio assets. Its track record, expertise and capability make it a global leader in green investment and development, dedicated to accelerating the transition to a greener global economy.

Initially launched by the UK Government in 2012 as the Green Investment Bank, it was the first institution of its type in the world. It was purchased by Macquarie in 2017 and combined with Macquarie Capital's renewables team to create one of the world's largest teams of specialist green infrastructure developers and investors. Now operating as the Green Investment Group, the business and its operating platforms have investments or operations in over 25 markets, more than 400 staff and a global development pipeline of more than 20GW.

For more information, visit www.greeninvestmentgroup.com and www.macquarie.com.


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