Qair takes controlling stake in British waste-to-energy project

French independent renewable power producer Qair has acquired a majority stake in Northacre Renewable Energy Limited (NREL), a British company behind an up to 24-MW waste-to-energy project in South West England.

The interest was bought from Evero Energy Group, the French firm said on Thursday without disclosing the value of the purchase.

The Northacre energy-from-waste facility will be located in Westbury, Wiltshire, and will use about 243,000 tonnes of non-recyclable residues per year to generate electricity. The project was granted an operational environmental permit in June 2022 and in early 2023 secured its planning approval.

Qair said it has started talks to select an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor for the project, targeting to achieve financial close next year. The Hills Group, a recycling and waste management company which is a shareholder of NREL, will supply waste to the contemplated plant, which is expected to become operational in 2028.

At present, Qair owns 400 MW of onshore wind and solar projects in various stages of development in the UK, as well as roughly 2 GW of Scottish offshore projects. In 2022, it bought its first energy-from-waste project in the country, the Horsham Energy Recovery (CHER) scheme.

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