Edinburgh’s green bank pumps £47m into Belfast plant

THE Green Investment Bank (GIB) is to invest £47 million in a Northern Irish project to turn waste into energy.

Green Investment Bank chief executive Shaun Kingsbury

The Edinburgh-based lender said the scheme, in Belfast, is the largest of its kind to be financed in Northern Ireland and will have the capacity to generate enough power – generated from household and commercial waste – for 14,500 homes.

Construction of the £107m plant, next to Bombardier’s wing facility in the city’s Harbour Estate, will create about 250 jobs, with about 20 people to be employed in its operations.

Shaun Kingsbury, the Belfast-born chief executive of GIB, said: “Northern Ireland was the location of one of GIB’s earliest investments and it gives us great pleasure to announce another important commitment to the country’s green infrastructure network.

“The plant will generate cleaner, greener electricity that can be used to the benefit of local employers while helping local authorities and businesses meet waste reduction targets.”

Jonathan Bell, minister of enterprise, trade and investment in the Northern Ireland Assembly, added: “This multi-million pound project is hugely significant, not just for Belfast, but for the Northern Ireland economy as a whole as it will create hundreds of jobs and protect many more.”

Meanwhile, legal firm DWF has been appointed by Aberdeen City Council, Aberdeenshire Council and Moray Council to advise on a £120m joint energy-from-waste development in East Tullo.

DWF said its Scottish team is advising Dundee City Council and Angus Council on their joint residual waste project.