Aviva Investors is facing further financial difficulties across its portfolio of energy-from-waste plants, as two additional incinerator projects run by the insurer's investment arm encounter significant losses, according to This is Money.
The developments follow earlier reporting that a Jersey-regulated green infrastructure fund managed by Aviva since 2015 had lost £500 million after three biomass plants collapsed.
Investors in the fund, including local authority pension funds attracted by the promise of low-risk returns, have written off £368 million relating to plants in Hull, Boston in Lincolnshire, and Barry in South Wales, all of which fell into administration in 2024.
Creditors led by Aviva Investors, which claims it is owed £480 million, are expected to recover less than a penny in the pound.
A further site in Plymouth has been mothballed, while Hooton Bio near Ellesmere Port in Cheshire has accumulated losses of £145 million since 2018, including a £43 million shortfall and debts of £270 million in 2024.
Auditors Ernst & Young signed off Hooton Bio's accounts on a going concern basis only after Aviva Investors confirmed it would not seek loan repayments from the company for a year. The Aviva director responsible for both sites was replaced earlier this month.
All five facilities are or were majority-owned by an Aviva Investors open-ended infrastructure fund that is being wound down. Aviva said the Plymouth facility was being sold to a third party and that there were no plans to close the Hooton site, adding that performance had improved and the plant now generates enough power for around 30,000 homes.
A spokesperson said the fund had "generated positive returns for investors since its inception" and that Aviva shareholders had not suffered a loss.
