Milton Keynes and Northants begin PFI procurement

The plans, known as 'Project Reduce', received £138 million in PFI funding from Defra in November 2008 (see letsrecycle.com story), and involve the development of waste treatment infrastructure to deal with the 400,000 tonnes-a-year of residual municipal solid waste (MSW) that the two councils estimate they will create by 2035.

In the contract notice, which was published in the OJEU on Tuesday (April 28), the councils invite companies interested in bidding for the deal to complete a pre-qualification questionnaire as the first stage of the competitive dialogue process that they are expected to use to let the contract.

The notice explained that the contract “intends to be for the design, build, finance and operation of a treatment facility or facilities for the treatment of the councils' residual MSW and associated/ancillary waste management services.”

Finance

As one of the first PFI waste deals to be advertised since the establishment of the Treasury Infrastructure Finance Unit (TFIU) in March 2009 (see letsrecycle.com story), the contract notice acknowledged that some finance for the deal may have to come from outside the private sector, such as the TFIU.

And, as well as potential government loans, it added that “the councils also reserve the right to involve European Investment Bank funding in the project.”

The EIB has already been involved in finalising a PFI-funded waste deal this year, providing £182 million to help the much-delayed Greater Manchester project reach financial close (see letsrecycle.com story).

Technology

The partnership between Milton Keynes and Northamptonshire, which was originally agreed in December 2006 (see letsrecycle.com story), has said that the final choice of both technology and sites to be used for its treatment facilities will be determined during the procurement process.

However, both councils have previously expressed their opposition to mass-burn incineration, while, in terms of sites, the contract notice states that “the councils intend to make three sites available to the project, but bidders are free to propose their own (sites)”.

So far, Milton Keynes has offered a site on Dickens Road, in Old Wolverton, while Northamptonshire has mooted a location near to the A45 as a potential home for a facility.

The next steps for the project involve a May 26 deadline for potential bidders to complete and submit a PQQ, and the councils then intend to send invitations to tender to selected candidates on July 29.

Milton Keynes and Northamptonshire have said they aim to have any new facilities up-and-running by September 2013.