Deputy wants answers to burning questions

Monday 10 October 2016

Jersey’s controversial waste to energy plant at La Collette is once again back in the political spotlight.

St Helier Deputy Mike Higgins wants to find out if it’s living up to its hype and how much money has been spent on it since it was commissioned.

Work on building the plant began in 2009 and it went online two years later. At a cost of £110m it was one of the most expensive capital projects the States had commissioned. The idea was it would replace the ageing incinerator at Bellozanne which failed to meet European standards and was struggling to deal with the amount of waste being produced in the Island.

At the time it was also claimed the plant would cope with the Island’s waste for the next 25 years, provide up to 7% of the Island’s electricity needs, and generate around £2.3m a year. But, earlier this year, Infrastructure Minister Deputy Eddie Noel admitted things weren’t quite working out as had been planned.

He admitted it’s probably making only half the amount of money that was predicted. But, he was quick to stress that, contrary to some claims, it wasn’t because the plant wasn’t running at full capacity, or because it has so far been unsuccessful in securing a deal to handled Guernsey’s rubbish. Instead he blamed the downturn on cheap European electricity prices.

In Tuesday’s States Deputy Higgins is asking the minister to go public on exactly how much energy has been generated by the plant each year since it was commissioned, how much money this has raised, and how this compares with initial estimates.

He also wants to know the number of times the plant has broken down, with details of the causes, duration, and the cost to the public of each incident.

As well as being criticised for failing to live up to predicted economic targets, the plant has also been criticised for not blending in with its surroundings. In 2012 around 5,000 trees were planted to try and screen the site, other more ambition suggestions have include wrapping it in fabric or building a protective earth screen.

During Tuesday’s question time Deputy Higgins will also ask Deputy Noel how much landscaping/reducing the visual impact of the plant has cost, and for a breakdown of how the money has been spent.