The European Investment Bank (EIB) has confirmed it will invest £110 million to support an Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) in Cardiff.

Owned by Viridor, a Pennon Group company, the Cardiff ERF centre is the largest in Wales and treats 350,000 of annual waste from local authorities and local businesses.

It diverts at least 95% of non-recyclable waste and generates 30MW of electricity for the national grid, enough to power 50,000 households in South Wales.

Jonathan Taylor, EIB Vice President, said: "Significant investment in energy recovery technology allows energy to be recovered from waste that cannot be recycled or reused and would previously have been sent to landfill sites.

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"The new Cardiff Energy Recovery Facility shows how waste is being transformed into vital renewable energy for Wales and reflects the strong environmental commitment of the Welsh government and local authorities already working with the project.

"The European Investment Bank recognises the strong track record of Viridor, owned by Pennon Group, successfully implementing cutting edge plants across the country and we expect to finalise technical details for a GBP 110 million long-term EIB loan in the coming weeks."

Susan Davey, Director of Finance at Pennon Group, added: "We are delighted that the European Investment Bank is planning to provide funding for another of Viridor's Energy Recovery Facilities.

"Viridor now has eight Energy Recovery Facilities in operation across the UK and a further three facilities are progressing well and will be delivered by March 2019.

"Together these facilities will deliver 242MW of de-centralised energy, transforming waste into a valuable social resource."

(LM)