The company once pursuing a controversial plastics-to-fuel plant on land in Hume has sold the block and temporarily shelved plans in the ACT, but denies it has abandoned the territory as a future site.
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After buying the $2.9 million Hume block from the territory government on October 19, the company, Integrated Energy Solutions, on-sold the same day to local Canberra industrial and municipal cleaning firm Flexible.
An IGE market update released on Tuesday confirmed the company had settled on the sale of the site, with the $2.9 million it had allocated to the purchase to be reallocated to "an alternative site that better meets IGES requirements in relation to its global expansion plans".
The announcement also said the company was "well advanced in seeking a more appropriate site for its planned manufacturing facilities", but said nothing of any future ACT site for that or the proposed plastics-to-fuel plant.
The Hume site and the proposed fuel-making plant was roundly rejected by both the south Canberra community and the government following an environmental impact statement.
But IGES director David McIntosh rejected the prospect of the company abandoning its plans at all in the ACT, saying "that site obviously wasn't conducive to the local community but we fully intend on coming back to the ACT".
Mr McIntosh said the company had the "basic requirements" to provide ACT and NSW environmental authorities with more emissions data about the proposal and that "we'll be coming back as soon as we can satisfy that".
The company told the market that it planned to collected the data from its planned - but not yet operating - plants in the United States, United Kingdom and the Netherlands.
"Upon collection of this information, IGES will recommence its development of Australian opportunities," it reads.
Mr McIntosh said the apparent withdrawal of plans not only in the ACT, but Australia-wide, was only "temporary" and until the emissions data could be obtained and satisfy various local environmental authorities.
But he would not commit to any timeframe on when the data would be provided, or whether the company was looking again to buy land in the ACT.
Asked why the company would return to the ACT for a manufacturing facility to supply equipment to overseas plants, rather than build it on the coast closer to a port, Mr McIntosh said such plans were "commercial information and we'll keep that to ourselves".
Flexible general manager Tim Rolfe said the firm planned to use the block to build a new depot for its contracting operation across the ACT.
But he said it was probably six to 12 months before he expected the company would have a development application ready for lodging with planning authorities.
