Dublin City Council today gave formal notice of its intention to enter into a contract with Dublin Waste to Energy Limited, the consortium chosen to build and operate a municipal waste incinerator in Poolbeg, Dublin.
The council said it had issued Dublin Waste to Energy Limited, a joint venture between US firm Covanta Energy, and Danish company DONG Energy, with a letter of intent concerning the proposed facility.
The council's application for the incinerator, which would burn 600,000 tonnes of waste annually, remains before An Bord Pleanála which is expected to make a decision on the project in the Autumn.
The current Minister for the Environment John Gormley, who is also a TD in the constituency, was one of more than 2,000 individuals or environmental groups who lodged objections to the application with Bord Pleanála last October.
The council said it had also made an application for a waste licence to the Environmental Protection Agency and was awaiting a decision.
DONG Energy is the new owner of DONG Generation Ireland, which was formerly Elsam Ireland, the original successful bidder for the public private partnership contract.
The incinerator is the subject of a petition by a committee of MEPs to determine whether the council has complied fully with EU law governing the original environmental impact assessment scheme.