Steve McCloud ushers me into his hot food takeaway and cafe and we sit at a table as the shutters are pulled down for the day. We are in the middle of Hull’s old industrial district, which straddles the winding curves of the river that gives the city its name.
I’ve come to find out what Steve thinks about the recent decision to mothball a £200mn waste-to–energy plant standing just a block away. The huge state-of-the-art complex stands on a 12-acre site once occupied by a post-war cocoa mill, and dominates the immediate area, including Steve’s modest cafe.
“I don’t want to knock it because I’ve had some good business from there, including a few big buffet orders”, he says. “I’ve always thought it was a good idea. Who can argue against turning waste into electricity? That’s a big positive, right? Even so, I’ve always said it was built in the wrong place.”
A green dream for the East Riding
Named Energy Works, the plant was promoted as a bold step into the future of green technology. Regenerating a brownfield site, it would divert 240,000 tonnes of municipal and commercial waste from landfill every year, using an advanced gasification processing system to provide enough electricity to power the equivalent of 43,000 homes and help lower the UK’s carbon emissions.
Rooftop solar panels would supply energy to the building itself while its riverside location would allow some of the waste to arrive by barges rather than being transported by road.
In addition, an on-site academy would welcome local schools to learn about creating sustainable infrastructure and renewable energy technology.
Before Energy Works opened, nearby residents were promised there would be no noise or disruption from its operation but, as it turned out, they faced a wait to find out. It was expected to be fully operational in 2018, but significant delays in the commissioning process eventually led plant operator Energy Works Hull Ltd (EWH) to terminate the main construction contract with MW High Tech Projects UK in March 2019.
When it did finally open a year later, the earlier promises failed to materialise.
Residents dismayed by noise and flies
According to Steve, a high-pitched noise became a regular fixture when the plant was operational, while a major fire in September 2020 led the Environment Agency to ask nearby residents and businesses to keep windows and doors closed as thick black smoke billowed from the side of the building.
Then there were the flies.
“They were the worst”, says Steve. “We are surrounded by a lot of places dealing with waste but we never had a problem with flies until Energy Works opened. “It went from the usual summer situation when you get the odd one coming in to having problems with flies for eight or nine months, and I’m talking about huge numbers. You would not have believed how many on some days.”
“Eventually, I spoke to one of the managers and he just said: ‘How do you know they’re our flies?’ I thought he must be joking. I said ‘I’ve been here since 2008 and there were never any problems before you opened’.”
A bitter three-way legal battle
As Energy Works struggled to reach operational capacity, the messy legal aftermath of the contract termination was being played out in court. In July 2019, EWH started proceedings against MW High Tech claiming damages in respect of the delays and the consequences of terminating the contract. They also submitted a claim for defects in some of the construction work carried out. The total claim amounted to £164.5mn.
Following a trial in the Technology and Construction Court, Judge Edward Pepperall’s initial findings were mainly in favour of EWH. Before a final judgement was made, MW High Tech immediately settled and paid £75mn in agreed damages.
By then MW High Tech had made its own claim for damages in proceedings against Outotec, the company which it had sub-contracted to design and supply most of the advanced gasification at the Hull plant. The claim alleged no fewer than 15 items of defective work.
This claim was the focus of a second judgement handed down by Judge Peperall in May 2023, which again went against MW High Tech.
Court action continues
However, a second action by the company against Outotec is heading for another trial in the same court next year. This time it is alleging fraudulent and negligent misrepresentation by Outotec over the capability of the technology, which MW High Tech says “failed disastrously” in Hull and at two other new waste processing plants where it was also the main construction contractor. In the Hull case, MW High Tech are claiming damages of over £165mn.
Outotec denies the claims but in July an application to strike them out as an abuse of process was dismissed by the Court of Appeal, paving the way for next year’s trial.
Meanwhile, the shutters have come down at Energy Works, with operation at the plant suspended. According to a report by specialist waste news website ENDS Waste & Biodiversity, its owner Evero Energy is looking for a buyer after struggling to process enough waste to make it economically viable.
The move comes after it was reported that the struggling complex only processed 30,941 tonnes of waste in 2023 – way below the 240,000-tonne annual capacity it was designed for.
Out on the River Hull, not a single delivery by barge has ever been made.
Back in his cafe, Steve McCloud admits little interest in the ongoing legal battles surrounding Energy Works. He’s more interested in what happens next. “I’ve been told it’s being closed for six to eight months to see if anyone is interested in buying it. Maybe someone will make a go of it or just clear the site and start again.”
Evero Energy was asked for a statement to be included in this article. The company did not respond.
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