Plant alone will cost extra £15m.

WASTE plant construction costs have rocketed in the last two years. Building the same-specification incinerator at Longue Hougue as was set to go ahead in 2004 will cost up to £15m. more, industry experts have warned.

The price of steel, copper and civil engineering have risen dramatically since the requete halted the planned energy-from-waste plant.

In January deputies will vote on Environment proposals that say the plant needs the same final capacity of 70,000 tonnes, with incineration the preferred option.

'Everybody knows steel prices, civil contract prices have gone up,' said Lentjes UK director David Porter.

'On the premise it's the same site with the same specification, I guess the delay would cost somewhere between £10m. and £15m.'

Lurgi, which was set to sign a contract to build an energy-from-waste plant, changed its name to Lentjes in May.

Civil contractors in the UK were very busy, he added.

'Prices are escalating substantially - there are several civil contractors in the UK that have lost money on these energy-from-waste projects - they are now estimating with hard experience from other plants rather than hope they would get the price right.'

There were a substantial number of EfW projects going on in the UK, he added.

'Government is realising that EfW can form a greater part of waste management. More and more are being approved, I must say against local opposition, but even they are starting to agree there's no health risk.'

The reaction was against change, he said.

Waste consultant Enviros has warned that the island's reputation in the industry had been damaged over the delay.

'There are a lot of projects coming along. It's going to be difficult to get bidders to bid.'

Mr Porter could not say whether Lentjes would tender to build the plant.

'At the moment we're very busy, there're several contracts we're interested in - it would have to depend on the time and what the commitment is.

'What the contract is commercially and technically, we would have to look at it at the time. I would not close the door, but it is a busy time.'

Jersey, which is looking to replace its incinerator, was a more attractive option because there was little opposition to it.

'If you are always going to get people in politics and the public against it, if there's a lot of business about, you are always going to choose the easier path.'

Building a waste plant was multidisciplinary, he added.

The cost escalations were not just affecting incinerators, but multi-disciplinary projects generally.

That means they would affect whatever type of plant was built - with the other option currently on the table a combination of mechanical biological treatment coupled with energy- from-waste.

There needed to be a clear commitment from government and no chance of an eleventh-hour requete stopping the contract, said Mr Porter.

Doing major engineering projects in Guernsey was always going to be more difficult, he said, with issues such as accommodating workers.

If projects came up in the UK, they would always be more attractive than working on an island project.

'The longer the decision is put off, the more expensive it becomes.'