The state of the art, single line energy from waste facility will provide up to 350,000 tonnes of annual treatment capacity for non-recyclable waste. Biffa will provide 70% of fuel for the facility from its existing local waste collection services.
Notably, the project is the first project financed energy from waste (EfW) project to reach financial close in the UK since the Rookery EfW project in March 2019, on which Ashurst also advised, and is the third EfW project developed by GIG and Covanta to reach financial close in the last 15 months.
The facility will be built by Swiss company Hitachi Zosen Inova (part of Hitachi Corporation) and will be operated by Covanta Corporation.
Debt finance is being provided by Natwest, Allied Irish Banks, ABN Amro, Natixis and Crédit Agricole and the total project construction cost (excluding financing costs) will be around £285 million to £295 million.
Cameron Smith, who led Ashurst's team, commented:
"This project is the latest in a line of large project financed EfW deals on which Ashurst has advised and stamps the firm firmly as the leading legal adviser in this sector. Challenges faced included the issues posed in closing a large financing of this nature during the course of the UK's withdrawal from Europe and the international nature of the contractors and funders. This deal would not have been possible without such a strong and experienced team of sponsors, advisers and banks, all of whom have closed similar UK waste to energy deals recently."
The Ashurst team was led by partner Cameron Smith and Patrick Boyle, and also comprised partners Nicholas Hilder, Anthony Johnson and Antony Skinner. Consultants Jan Sanders and Michael Smith, counsel David Cave, legal consultant Karen Braakman, senior associates Nicholas Monks, Mark Emmanuel, David Razzell, Charlie Reid, Peter Grayson and Adam Skibsted and associates Wilson Lu, Ffion Archer, Veronica Chan, Elle Hansen, Luiza Wojciszke, Ian Hedberg, Laura Birkinshaw-Miller, Michelle Davenport, Matt Gillam, Claudia Sharland, Helen Raynsford, Alice Rosenshaw, Brian Cheung, Olivia Barton and Sinead Tulley all assisted.
