The Maidenhead firm, which has also been involved in the Greater Manchester PFI project, was awarded the contract by Von Roll Inova, the Swiss energy-from-waste specialists that Cory has appointed to ensure the 585,000 tonne-a-year merchant facility is completed.
The company will be responsible for providing design, site infrastructure and building works for the main building, jetties, roads and offices at the facility, which, when built, will be the largest Energy-from-Waste plant in the UK.
Welcoming the award, Costain's chief executive, Andrew Wyllie, said: “This contract award is an important step forward in the development of Costain's activities in the waste market.
“It significantly strengthens our credentials for future work in the expanding area of cleaner energy generation and waste resource management,” he added.
Background
While it has a background in civil engineering and construction activities in major projects such as the Thames Barrier and the Channel Tunnel, Costain has described waste as its “fastest growing sector”.
In January 2008, the company was appointed preferred contractor for the £3 billion Greater Manchester waste PFI project, by preferred bidders Viridor Laing.
This involved Costain being signing £7 million Advanced Works Order that allowed it to begin preparatory work on the £300 million of infrastructure that represents a key part of the contract (see letsrecycle.com story).
Step forward
Yesterday's £120 million contract award to Costain represented the second major step forward in the past few days for the controversial Belvedere project, which eventually won planning permission in 2006 after a 16 year battle (see letsrecycle.com story).
Last week, Cory announced that it had secured the £570 million of funding that required for full-scale construction work on the plant to begin in earnest, including £465 million in debt from Barclays Capital and the Bank of Ireland, as well as £105 million in equity from Cory itself (see letsrecycle.com story).
The company now hopes to have the facility operational at the start of 2011.
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