Indaver spend on proposed Cork Harbour incinerator project up to €200m

The projected spend by Belgian firm Indaver on its planned incinerator for Ringaskiddy in Cork has increased to €200m.

That is according to a raft of new planning documents lodged with An Coimisúin Pleanála, as Indaver Ireland is looking to advance the long-running project.

Plans were first lodged for the incinerator almost a decade ago in January 2016, and Indaver secured planning permission for its incinerator in Co Cork in 2018.

The project was then estimated to cost €160m and would have the capacity to treat up to 240,000 tonnes of waste per annum.

However, that permission has been subject to High Court challenge by a local environmental group. The Supreme Court, in September 2022, upheld a High Court ruling that the application can be remitted back to the appeal board for fresh consideration.

Operational

The new planning documentation states that, if permission is granted, “it is expected to be operational in 2030”.

The planning report stated that “up to 320 people will be employed during the construction phase, and 63 people will be employed when the facility is operational”.

As part of the High Court ruling, it ruled in June 2024 that, due to the passage of time since the initial submission of the application, Indaver was to submit any updated or further information of relevance on the application, an updated environmental impact statement, and an updated natura impact statement.

That information has now been lodged and third parties now have until November 17 to make submissions. Construction work on the planned incinerator is to take 31 months.

The report states that a community fund will be approximately €240,000 per year for the life of the facility, which will fund environmental and other community projects and initiatives in the Ringaskiddy area.

Documents

Planning documentation states that a similar fund is in operation in Meath, where Indaver operates an incinerator at Duleek. That has amounted to over €3m to date.

The non-technical summary states that the waste to energy facility “will bring much-needed waste management infrastructure to the Munster region”.

The report states that 21MW of electricity will be generated, of which up to 18.5MW will be exported to the national grid.

The report adds that “this will be enough to supply the power needs of approximately 30,000 homes”.

“The remaining 2.5MW will be used to run the facility itself.”