CPI director of business affairs Graham Barnard said his organisation has suggested setting up a cross department CHP sponsor group, to assist the government in meeting its targets.

"Our disappointment is that there seem to be different messages coming from different sides of government. What we need is one voice," he said.

As users of CHP, the paper industry has been in constant dialogue with government, urging it to do more to encourage CHP investment.

The message came as the DTI released figures showing that more than 35 CHP schemes had closed last year while 64 were put on hold.