Staffordshire narrows PFI contract shortlist

It has named German energy-from-waste specialists MVV Umwelt and waste management firm Veolia ES Aurora as the two remaining bidders for the deal, which is set to involve the development of a 300,000 tonne-a-year capacity energy-from-waste (EfW) facility at the Four Ashes site, near Cannock.

The news came as Leeds city council revealed it was on track to reduce the shortlist of bidders for its 28-year PFI-funded waste treatment contract to two bidders in January 2010, after cutting the list of groups left in the running from 10 to four in May 2009.

In Staffordshire, the two firms left in the running for PFI deal, which is known as 'Project W2R', will now be expected to work with the council to refine their proposals as it looks to award the contract in summer 2010 and have facilities up-and-running in 2013.

The news means that US EfW specialists Covanta Energy and a consortium between Shanks and Wheelabrator, who were also in the running for the contract, have been cut from the shortlist.

Procurement

The county council's cabinet member for regeneration and infrastructure, Robert Marshall, claimed that Staffordshire's procurement process was aiming to save both costs and the environment.

“The Waste to Resource project is all about prudent investments in the future. The financial and environmental costs of landfill are becoming increasingly prohibitive, and energy from waste provides real opportunities for extracting the maximum benefit from materials left over after recycling has been maximised,” he said.

“This is about protecting the tax payer from escalating costs and protecting the environment from mounting piles of rubbish.

“Now we have narrowed down the competition to build this plant to two very impressive expert operators in this field of technology. We aim to harness the very best brains in the business to ensure Staffordshire gets maximum value, and maximum quality,” he added.

Staffordshire received £122.4 million in PFI funding from Defra in July 2008 (see letsrecycle.com story), and in January 2009 it was given the go-ahead by the Government Office for the West Midlands to build its facility at the Four Ashes site (see letsrecycle.com story).

As well as treating 130,000 tonnes-a-year of Staffordshire's residual waste, the facility is also expected to treat 40,000 tonnes-a-year from Warwickshire, 50,000 tonnes-a-year from Walsall and 60,000 tonnes-a-year from Sandwell metropolitan borough council.

However, concerns have been raised over the project's viability in light of other available energy-from-waste capacity nearby, while South Staffordshire district council – within whose boundaries the Four Ashes site is located – last year called for further investigations into the projects impact on the local area (see letsrecycle.com story).

Leeds

Meanwhile, Leeds city council has said it “anticipates” naming the two final bidders for its PFI-funded waste treatment deal at the start of 2010.

This comes after the council narrowed the list of bidders for the 28-year deal, which was awarded £68.6 million in PFI contracts in April 2008 (see letsrecycle.com story), to just four contenders in May 2009.

The four remaining bidders for the contract, which is based on a reference technology of energy-from-waste being used to treat up to 180,000 tonnes-a-year of residual waste, are:
• Aire Valley Environmental – a consortium between Covanta Energy and Yorkshire Water's parent company Kelda Water Services;
• MVV Umwelt – German EfW technology specialists;
• United Utilities – utilities company;
• Veolia ES Aurora – EfW arm of waste management company.

Commenting on the contract's progress, a spokeswoman for the local authority said: “We have evaluated a range of proposals from some of the leading waste management companies and are looking for treatment technology that protects the environment, delivers value for money and is acceptable to local residents.”

“Four companies have now been short-listed and will shortly be invited to develop these proposals further and submit detailed solutions.

“At this stage, we remain open-minded about the type or combination of technologies that we might use to deal with the city's waste and there will not be a final decision until spring/summer 2010,” she added.

The decision to narrow the shortlist to just four bidders in May 2009 means that six other contenders who had passed the initial stages of the procurement process are no longer in the running. These include: AmeyCespa Waste; Biffa Waster Services; a Shanks and Scottish & Southern Energy joint bid; Urbaser, VT Environmental Engineering; and, Waste Recycling Group.

Of those left in contention for the deal, Aire Valley, MVV Umwelt and Veolia all included energy-from-waste as the focus of their initial technology proposal, while United Utilities proposed a combination of mechanical biological treatment and gasification.

While Aire Valley Environmental has mooted a location in the Aire Valley, near a sewerage treatment works, as the potential home of a facility, the other three bidders have all suggested a former Wholesale Markets site on Pontefract Lane, which was one of four potential locations identified by Leeds city council for the project.

The council has said that it is aiming to have the PFI contract facilities up-and-running by 2014.