Plans for the £300 million Tees Valley Energy Recovery Facility, which will be located on a 22-acre brownfield site in Redcar and Cleveland, were unveiled in July 2020 (see letsrecycle.com story).
Seven councils – representing Darlington, Durham, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Redcar and Cleveland, and Stockton – have joined forces to procure a contractor to design, build, operate and finance the 450,000 tonnes per year capacity facility, which should begin operations in April 2026.
The councils formed a company known as a ‘Local Authority Special Purpose Vehicle’ in March to be the contracting entity on their behalf.
Letsrecycle.com reported in December 2020 that Viridor, Suez and Green Recovery Projects were in the running for the contract, which could be worth £2.1 billion (see letsrecycle.com story).
A spokesperson for the Tees Valley Energy Recovery Facility project partners told letsrecycle.com they remained within the ‘competitive dialogue’ stage of the procurement with all three shortlisted bidders.
The deal will last for 29 years from 2022 with the possibility of an 11-year extension.
The facility, which will be designed to have a minimum lifespan of 40 years, will revert to ownership by the council once the contract expires.
Competitive dialogue
The Tees Valley spokesperson said: “We remain within the competitive dialogue stage of the procurement with all three shortlisted bidders – Suez, Viridor and Green Recovery Projects.
We remain within the competitive dialogue stage of the procurement with all three shortlisted bidders
– Tees Valley Energy Recovery Facility project partners’ spokesperson
“Final tenders are now anticipated to be submitted in September 2022. This slightly extended timescale is related to recent challenges relating to price volatility in the market for construction materials – particularly steel – which is not unique to our sector.
“We hope that the extended timeframe will allow the project partners and bidders to resolve some of these outstanding issues.”
Facility
The Tees Valley Energy Recovery Facility will generate up to 49.9MW of electricity, enough to power more than 60,000 homes.
The residues from the process including metals and bottom ash will be recovered or recycled, according to a report published recently by Darlington borough council.
The report adds that it may be possible to export the heat generated by the facility to businesses and other local users in the future, “should a future business case demonstrate this to be feasible (technically and economically) and provide overall value for money for such an investment.”
The development will create a few hundred jobs during the construction phase and up to 50 permanent positions once operational, according to Darlington.
Current arrangements
The Tees Valley Energy Recovery Facility will service the residual waste of approximately 1.5 million residents of the North East.
Currently, Redcar and Cleveland, Hartlepool, Stockton, and Middlesbrough operate residual waste disposal services as a group known as the Tees Valley Councils. The group holds a single contract with Suez.
Darlington borough council is part of the group but has its own separate waste treatment and disposal contract with Stonegrave Aggregates Ltd.
Durham county council and Newcastle city council have their own separate residual waste disposal contracts with Suez.
All the existing waste treatment and disposal contracts are due to expire in 2025/26, and, according to Darlington’s report, “therefore a new residual waste treatment contract must be procured in order to allow for the new facility to be constructed and fully commissioned in preparation for this.”
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