Established by Kelda Water Services for the bid and part of the Kelda Group, the company is proposing to develop anaerobic digestion (AD) and open windrow composting facilities in Cardiff, both of which already have planning permission.
Under the proposed contract – worth around £20 million – construction would commence next year on a 35,000 tonnes-per-year capacity food waste per year AD plant on the Dwy Cymru waste water treatment works site adjacent to the Tremorfa industrial estate in the city.
It is anticipated that the 1.5MW AD plant will be operational in 2016 and will provide electricity for the waste water treatment works.
A ‘Green Learning Zone’ is also slated for inclusion at the AD plant for community and education groups.
Meanwhile, Cardiff city council already owns a site on Lamby Way in the city, on which Kelda have subsequently gained planning consent for a 38,000 tonnes per year open windrow facilty.
Procurement
An estimated £2 million has been spent on the procurement to date, with £1 million contributed by the Welsh Government through the Sustainable Waste Management Grant.
Eight companies were originally announced in the long-list for the deal in April 2012 (see letsrecycle.com story) after the procurement process began in December 2011: Agrivert; Cory Environmental; Kelda Organic Energy; New Earth Solutions; Shanks Waste Management; Wessex Water Enterprises, trading as Geneco; and Waste Recycling Group.
Preferred bidder status is now expected to be formally confirmed by Cardiff council and Vale of Glamorgan council at meetings on October 23 and October 20 respectively.
Interim arrangement
Cardiff currently has an interim arrangement for the treatment of 30,000 tonnes per year of mixed food and green waste at New Earth Solutions’ in-vessel composting (IVC) facility in Sharpness, Gloucestershire – an arrangement which expires in March 2015.
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As the proposed contract with Kelda facility would not commence until December 2016, the two councils are also planning to procure for another interim arrangement for its food and green waste treatment.
According to Cardiff council documents, discussions have also been held with Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, Swansea, Neath Port Talbot and Bridgend councils over joining in on this interim deal.
Both councils operate weekly food waste collections and fortnightly green waste collections.
Cardiff
Cardiff councillor Bob Derbyshire, cabinet member for environment, said: “This is a hugely significant landmark for the city council as we are committed through our One Planet Cardiff vision to meet the statutory Welsh Government targets as we work towards their ‘Zero Waste’ goal for 2050.
“I was also very impressed by the calibre of the bids throughout the process and we are satisfied that Kelda has developed a strong technical solution, that is affordable within the authorities’ budgets, representing excellent value for money, for the quality and complexity of the services that are required. I congratulate Kelda on their excellent progress on their solution so far and look forward to watching this excellent project develop and grow into a facility we can all be proud of.”
Cardiff council is also currently considering moving from fortnightly household residual waste collections to instead collecting the waste every four weeks in order to boost its recycling rate and meet statutory Welsh Government recycling targets (see letsrecycle.com).
Glamorgan
Vale of Glamorgan councillor Rob Curtis, cabinet member for the environment and visible services, commented: “We believe that the partnering solution with Cardiff provides us with a more sustainable long-term solution fully in accordance with Welsh Government preferred organic treatment technology and long term strategic vision.
“Given the strong environmental and economic advantages that this solution will deliver to the two authorities we are pleased to be able to share these benefits and looking forward to working with Cardiff to deliver this sustainable solution. I too would congratulate Kelda on the progress they have made.”
Kelda
Thomas Hall, bid director for Kelda Organic Energy Ltd said, “We are delighted by this announcement and we look forward to continue to work with Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan councils to sign this exciting contract and then deliver new state of the art recycling facilities as part of this innovative project.
“When constructed and operational the two facilities will recycle the councils’ green and food waste in Cardiff delivering renewable energy, jobs and support to local businesses.”
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