The plant, which is set to dispose of 20% of the whole South Island’s waste stream through its facility, has had its resource consent process stopped by Environment Canterbury.
Environment Canterbury said the plant, known as Project Kea would require a water permit to take up to 2500cu m of water a day.
The water needed to run the waste-to-energy facility had not been applied for yet.
The proposal had been put on hold awaiting the consent application, Environment Canterbury said in a statement.
The $350 million plant has had a rollercoaster ride in its resource consent process.
It originally applied for consents in September last year with Environment Canterbury and the Waimate District Council.
But those consents were sent back by both authorities which said they contained insufficient information.
The company provided more details and information and once again filed the consents.
But the councils came back to the company and said the consent could not be processed as they did not include a cultural impact assessment.
South Island Resource Recovery Ltd (SIRRL) then appealed this decision, saying it was normal to process consents while waiting for the cultural impact assessment to be completed.
That went to a hearing and a decision was released last week which sided with the company.
Independent commissioner Rob Enright ruled late on Friday the application should continue to be processed while the cultural impact assessment was completed.
But now the consent process will stop again as the company applies for the water consent.
SIRRL director Paul Taylor said the water permit from the regional council was the next part of the process.
"We had already begun discussing this need with Environment Canterbury.
"We are currently putting the application material together for this permit," he said.
