Leicestershire reports strong interest in 685m PFI deal

The council embarked on the formal procurement process for the contract after being awarded £86.6 million in PFI credits by Defra in October 2008 (see letsrecycle.com story).

And, a spokeswoman for the council told letsrecycle.com that over 30 companies had requested copies of the pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ) that parties looking to bid for the deal must complete.

With 48 companies having attended the council's Bidders Day, which was held on October 24, she explained that “we are pleased with the response”.

The Leicestershire contract involves the development of a £140 million facility which is expected to have to treat up to 140,000 tonnes-a-year of the county's residual household waste by 2040.

Technology

The spokeswoman stressed that “the county council is taking a neutral stance on both technology and sites,” adding that “it will be up to potential bidders to propose solutions to deal with Leicestershire's residual waste.”

However, the council's reference technology for the PFI project was to use Energy-from-Waste technology with Combined Heat and Power.

And, it has proposed to offer two sites it currently owns to potential bidders for the contract to develop a facility on – the Whetstone household waste and recycling site to the south-west of Leicester and a site at Bardon in the north-west of the county.

Commenting on the next stage for the procurement process, the spokeswoman said: “The next stage is to complete the evaluation of the PQQs and invite the companies selected to submit outline solutions.”

Leicestershire plans to appoint a preferred bidder for the contract in 2010, with the aim of having the treatment facilities up-and-running by 2015.