Tata Chemicals Europe?s soda ash production processes are energy intensive. Currently, the energy needs of our sites at Lostock and Winnington are met by a gas-fired Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant located at Winnington.

Each year our sites use approximately 2.5 million megawatt hours of energy which is equivalent to the energy used by 80,000 3-bedroomed houses or around three towns the size of Northwich.

Energy costs, primarily gas, accounts for a third of our manufacturing cost base. The cost and supply of gas has become extremely volatile in recent years. The forecast is that gas prices will continue to rise, increasing our manufacturing cost base and making the business less viable. This will make it more difficult for us to remain competitive in the global market in which we operate.

There are also legislative demands for us to cut our carbon emissions. To do this we will need to reduce our reliance on the fossil fuels which we currently use to provide heat and electricity.

Building an EfW plant to meet some of our energy demand will help to control our energy costs and will support the long-term viability of the business. It will also help to maintain approximately 500 jobs in the town and 3,500 others in associated industries. It will also allow us to continue supporting the pensions of 600 former employees, including those that used to work for ICI in Northwich.

The EfW will help us to reduce carbon emissions by over 150,000 tonnes a year. In May this year, the government announced stringent new targets to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 50 per cent by 2027 compared with 1990.

We will still need to operate the gas fired CHP plant at Winnington albeit at much reduced capacity. It will continue to supply steam to the Winnington site and provide back-up for Lostock.