Managing director of Energy Developments, Paul Whiteman, said the amendments would allow for commercial operation of the existing Whytes Gully plant once an upgraded EPA licence was issued.

"The original Waste Processing Agreement, signed in 1999, anticipated an expansion for the current plant as a precursor to commercial operation," Mr Whiteman said. "Under the amended agreement, this requirement will no longer apply, thereby allowing the existing SWERF plant to operate on a commercial basis with minimal upgrade or expansion (other than that currently contemplated for the new char gasifier and a number of ancillary processes)."

"This arrangement will provide the company with the ability to generate initial cash flows from the Whytes Gully project," he said. "More importantly, this provides the company with the opportunity to achieve commercial operation much earlier than allowed for under the original Waste Processing Agreement."

"The term of the initial EPA licence for 30,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) was recently extended and will remain in place while we prepare for additional emissions testing later this year," Mr Whiteman said.

"The data gathered during these tests will complete the information required for the company to submit an application for expansion of the licence capacity to 150,000 tpa. This is seen as the ultimate capacity required to service the region."