And, now the BDR Project Board is poised to announce that it has reduced its shortlist of contractors to two out of four.
It is expected that established waste management contractors SITA UK and Shanks will emerge as the final bidders, although confirmation of this is still awaited from the Board. The other two contenders are AmeyCespa and Earth Tech Skanska who could yet figure among the final contenders (see letsrecycle.com story).
The proposal from SITA UK comes through a partnership with Catalyst Lend Lease. The bid, under the name SITA Lend Lease, is thought to be for an energy-from-waste plant which would see Catalyst involved with the financing. In 2008, Catalyst Lend Lease said it had “a £2.3 billion capital value portfolio of PPP investments in the UK. These include hospitals, schools and government offices.” At the time Catalyst listed Bovis Lend Lease as its construction partner.
Few details have emerged of the Shanks proposal which is with Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE). However, it is thought that the project could include plans for a mechanical biological thermal treatment plant.
Fuel produced at such a plant could then be burnt by SSE at its Ferrybridge site in West Yorkshire. SSE is currently planning to build a multi-fuel plant at Ferrybridge which is near Knottingley. The proposed multi-fuel CHP facility would use a range of fuel sources, including biomass, waste-derived fuels and waste wood, to generate around 108MW of electricity and to provide heat to other industrial processes at the Ferrybridge site.
Commenting on the decision to press on with the project, a Doncaster council spokesman said: “Following an Extraordinary Meeting of the council, members made the decision to continue with the procurement of waste treatment facilities through the Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham Waste PFI project. This project, which has secured £77.4million of government funding, gives the council certainty and control of how we can deal with our waste in the future.”
This week the chair of the BDR Project Board, councillor Richard Russell, said he was delighted that work on the next stage could now begin.
He said: “Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham have a long history of working together, and this project is key to us achieving our aim of reducing the amount we send to landfill. All local authorities must do this – if we don't, we face very heavy fines. At the moment, most of this leftover waste goes to landfill, but landfill sites across the country are almost full, and they produce harmful greenhouses gases which damage the environment.
“We want a solution which will be environmentally friendly. It will also create up to 300 jobs during the construction phase, with up to 80 permanent jobs after that, many of which will be filled by local people. However, nothing will go ahead until there has been a full planning application. This means local people will be able to look at the detailed proposals and comment on them.”
Site
The project board added that a brownfield site at Bolton Road, Manvers in the Dearne Valley has been provisionally earmarked for a plant and would be near the borders of all three local authorities.
The preferred scheme will be chosen later this year, and if planning and other permissions are granted, construction is expected to take two-and-a-half years. The facility would then open in 2015.
The news that the project is to continue, after some fears that Doncaster might decide to opt out, is expected to be welcomed by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which had been putting the authorities under pressure to move the project forward.
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