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Incinerator information library

Information for Greengate Energy Recovery Facility, Greengate Works, Sherdley Road, St Helens, Merseyside

Status: Prevented
Planning Region: North West
Planning Sub-Region: St Helens
Operator: ESB Asset Development and Pilkington
Capacity: 330,000
Campaign Group(s): Contact coordinator@ukwin.org.uk to be put in touch with those opposing this development.
Notes: Proposed gasification plant intended to use RDF from municipal and C&I waste. Planning application submitted November 2016 and granted March 2017 (P/2016/0804/FUL). Modified scheme to increase the capacity to 300,000 tpa of municipal, commercial and industrial waste was approved in December 2018 (P/2018/0675/WEIA). Environmental permit application to allow for up to 330,000 tpa submitted in November 2019 (EPR/TP3909PL/A001). Waste trade press reports in September 2022 suggested that this project "looked to have been scrapped following the developer's decision to exit the UK's EfW and biomass-fired markets" and quoted ESB as stating that "no decision has been made on the Greengate Energy Recovery Facility" meaning that the project is at the very least stalled indefinitely if not abandoned altogether [Source]. It was reported January 2024 that the "Ireland’s state-owned utility company Electricity Supply Board (ESB) has confirmed an end to plans for a 330,000 tonne a year energy-from-waste facility it had been developing in St Helens" and that the project had now been "terminated" [Source] (Entry updated 2024-01-25)

R1 status of incinerators - 8 April 2026 (Environment Agency)

Uses data from R1 status of incinerators in England released by the Environment Agency. © Environment Agency copyright and/or database right 2026. All rights reserved.

Permit: NP3134DH

OperatorInstallation nameInstallation addressPermit statusWaste input (000s tonnes per annum)Incinerator typeCalculated R1 valueApplication R1 status grantedSource of data used in R1 calculationsDate R1 application status granted
Pilkington LimitedPilkington Greengate Energy Recovery FacilityGreengate, St. HelensPre-application149Municipal waste0.74NoDesign

Waste management for England 2024: Pre-operational (Environment Agency)

Uses data from 2024 Waste Data Interrogator - Version 2 released by the Environment Agency under the Environment Agency Conditional Licence. © Environment Agency copyright

Permit: TP3909PL

Operator NameSite NameSite AddressFormer Planning RegionFormer Planning Sub-RegionTypePermitted Capacity (tonnes)
Greengate Energy Recovery LimitedGreengate Energy Recovery FacilityGreengate Works,,Sherdley Road,,Saint Helens,Saint Helens, WA9 5DZNorth westMerseysideMunicipal and/or Industrial & Commercial330,000

Environment Agency Compliance Assessment Reports

Click here to see the incinerator compliance documents for existing English incinerators

Standard notice:

UKWIN (and therefore the UKWIN map) focuses on Municipal Waste Incinerators, whereas our colleagues at Biofuelwatch focus on biomass projects. If you are interested in biomass incinerators (including waste wood plants) over 20MW then please see the Biofuelwatch map of UK Biomass Power Stations. Those concerned about biomass plants, including waste wood plants, should email Biofuelwatch at biofuelwatch[at]gmail.com.

Please be aware: There is always room for improvement, so please send updates to coordinator@ukwin.org.uk. Existing Incinerator means a facility that is operational or under construction/commissioning. A Potential Incinerator is a facility where there is a proposal for an incinerator (e.g. planning application or planning consent) or other reason to believe an incinerator might be built/proposed in the future. A Prevented Incinerator is something which used to be a proposal or expected incinerator which we do not believe is currently being progressed (e.g. because the project was cancelled, planning permission refused, or years have gone by since the permission was granted without any progress) - in some cases a facility marked as prevented is being progressed without us being aware or is subsequently revived. Capacity is usually the permitted or maximum advertised capacity of the facility.