A consortium between London-based waste company Cory Environmental and US energy-from-waste incineration specialists Wheelabrator Technologies has today (October 27) been named as the front runner for Norfolk county council's multi-million pound waste PFI contract.
The council revealed that its waste project board had recommended the consortium's appointment as preferred bidder for the contract, which is expected to focus on the development of a 260,000 tonne-a-year capacity energy-from-waste incinerator with combined heat and power (CHP) technology.
We had two excellent, world class proposals in front of us and I would like to thank both organisations for the commitment they have shown to this project
Cllr Ann Steward, Norfolk county council
The selection of the Cory Wheelabrator bid ahead of the other remaining bidder for the long-term deal, Spanish-owned waste company Amey Cespa, is now set to be ratified by Norfolk county council's environment, transport and development overview and scrutiny panel and its cabinet on November 2 and November 8 respectively.
Cory and Wheelabrator are proposing to build a 260,000 tonne-a-year capacity facility at The Willows Business Park, at Saddlebow, south of Kings Lynn in the west of the county.
The facility's capacity is set to be filled by a combination of 170,000 tonnes-a-year of residual household waste supplied by the council under the PFI contract, and waste from local businesses.
Welcoming today's announcement, Norfolk county council's cabinet member for sustainable development, Ann Steward, said: “We had two excellent, world class proposals in front of us and I would like to thank both organisations for the commitment they have shown to this project.
“After an extensive evaluation process, Norfolk county council's waste project board has recommended Cory Wheelabrator as the preferred bidder.”
The selection of the Cory Wheelabrator consortium ahead of Amey Cespa marks the latest stage in a procurement that Norfolk county council received £92 million of PFI funding for in March 2009, and originally announced a four bidder shortlist for in September 2009 (see letsrecycle.com story), before narrowing it to just two in March 2010.
The initial stages of the procurement were affected by the council deciding to change the reference technology it used in its bid for PFI money from mechanical biological treatment to EfW with CHP due to concerns over markets for the output from the former process (see letsrecycle.com story).
PFI cuts
Today's announcement comes just a week after Norfolk escaped the cuts to PFI funding allocations made by Defra as part of the Spending Review, with the project one of 11 that had its funding confirmed at the same time as seven had their support withdrawn (see letsrecycle.com story).
This was alluded to by Cllr Steward, who said: “The proposals we are recommending represent excellent value for money. This is in part because the project has attracted a government grant worth £169 million over the life of the project under the government's landfill diversion PFI scheme. This will help subsidise the cost of the facility for Norfolk council taxpayers.
“Norfolk was one of just 11 authorities whose grant allocation was confirmed in the recent Comprehensive Spending Review and we believe this reflects the government's full support for the very sensible proposals we are taking forward for Norfolk.”
Cory
Cory Environmental's chief executive, Peter Getrsrom, said he was “delighted” by today's announcement, adding that both Cory and Wheelabrator were “committed to developing and delivering a modern, proven and safe facility which will help Norfolk deal with its leftover rubbish for many years to come, deliver a more sustainable system for waste disposal and better value for money for council taxpayers in Norfolk.”
His sentiments were echoed by Gary Aguinaga, managing director for Wheelabrator Technologies in the UK, who said the company was “extremely pleased to have reached this stage”.
The council stressed that the project still had to secure planning permission and an environmental permit from the Environment Agency but said that, subject to the outcome of those processes, construction could begin in 2012, with the facility up-and-running in 2015.
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