Waste incinerator in Náchod, Czechia, shelved as innogy drops plan

A waste incinerator and processing facility will not be built in Náchod for now. The innogy Group has abandoned the plan it was preparing with the city. The city intended to use its land near the Polish border for the project. City spokeswoman Nina Adlof told the Czech News Agency (ČTK) today. The city still plans to use the land for waste management. It has not ruled out other projects, such as a fire station.

The land near the border covers more than two hectares. Under the original plans, a collection yard, waste-sorting facility and other waste-processing operations were to be built there as part of the Waste-to-Energy Facility (ZEVO) project. The waste incinerator was to be located at innogy Energo’s heating plant in Náchod, which supplies heat to nearly 5,000 apartments, businesses, schools and other institutions in the city.

According to the city, the ZEVO project was intended to make it self-sufficient in waste management in the future and enable it to tackle rising waste disposal costs. Following innogy’s withdrawal, the city has no solution for waste management beyond 2030, when landfilling of municipal waste is due to end, Mayor Jan Birke (SOCDEM) said.

In a letter to the city, innogy explained its withdrawal from the project by saying that the planned project had “not obtained the relevant internal approvals in terms of the group’s strategy.” The regional newspaper Mladá fronta Dnes previously reported that innogy was also cancelling other incinerator projects and intended to prioritise renewable energy projects such as wind power, solar power and biomethane.

Náchod, a city of 20,000 people, will now consider other alternatives. “These could include cooperation with other partners, innovative recycling technologies or other environmentally friendly solutions,” the city spokeswoman said.

The city council does not intend to sell the land near the border, considering it strategically important for the city’s development. According to the council, an advantage of the land is that it will be directly connected to the planned bypass of road II/303 from Náchod to Broumov and the Náchod bypass currently under construction.

The city bought part of the plots near the border, covering more than 1.3 hectares, two years ago for CZK 22.4 million excluding value-added tax from the Prague-based company Statek Velká Chuchle. The opposition on Náchod’s city council raised concerns about some aspects of the transaction and the price of the land, but most councillors supported the purchase.