Sembcorp Industries has formed a consortium to develop a £250 million (S$473.5 million) plant that converts waste into energy in Teesside, Britain.

Sembcorp's equity investment for this project, which its first energy-from-waste facility outside Singapore, is £21.9 million comprising a mix of equity and shareholder loans.

The total investment, which includes both the energy-from-waste plant and a waste transfer station, will be funded through a long-term project finance loan, an equity bridge loan, shareholder loans and equity.

Financial close of the project is expected in the second half of the year or early next year.

The consortium is made up of Sembcorp, Sita UK (part of Suez Environment) and Itochu Corp, with the latter taking a 20 per cent while the remainder is shared equally between the other two partners.

The waste-to-energy plant will be capable of producing up to 49 megawatts of gross power or 190 tonnes per hour of steam, using municipal and commercial waste.

It will be located at Wilton International, a 770-hectare industrial site which Sembcorp owns, operates and manages in Teesside.

Up to 450,000 tonnes per year of municipal waste, which would otherwise have gone to landfill, will be used to produce sustainable power and steam.

A waste transfer station will be set up in Knowsley, Merseyside, to transport the waste by rail from Merseyside to the plant in Teesside.

Both facilities are expected to be operational in 2016, and will be developed under a build, own, operate and transfer arrangement with the Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority for a period of 30 years.