Peterborough city council has announced Viridor as the ‘recommended preferred bidder’ to build and operate an energy-from-waste incinerator in the city.
The 30-year contract, thought to be worth up to 60 million, is being let as part of a 76 million investment to transform waste services in the city.
Viridor had been competing for the work alongside services giant Kier, however, after careful analysis of the bids, including visits to the companies operational facilities, the councils Waste 2020 Project Board has recommended Viridor as preferred bidder to the portfolio holder, councillor Matthew Lee.
Councillor Lee will now consider the proposal before announcing his decision on 10 August. There will then be a three-day calling in period for the decision to be challenged, before it can be implemented on 15 August.
Peterborough currently produces approximately 90,000 tonnes of waste per year, which is set to increase to 140,000 tonnes by 2040. At present, 43% is recycled, with the remaining 50,000 tonnes of black bin waste sent to landfill.
Fengate
The proposed plant is planned for a site very close to the Peterborough Power Station in the industrial area of Fengate, where Viridor already operate a materials recycling facility (MRF) on behalf of the council. It will use heat to turn any waste that cant be recycled to ash and energy. In doing so, the amount of rubbish needing to be sent to landfill will be reduced by over 93%. The ash can also be recycled, for example as aggregate for building roads.
The plant will generate around 53,000 megawatt hours of electricity, which can be used locally or sold to the National Grid- enough electricity to power approximately 15% of the homes in Peterborough.
Tenders were invited from companies to bid for the contract to build the facility by 2015 and operate it for the following 30 years. Bidders were invited to recommend the most appropriate solution and technology.
Speaking about the plans, councillor Lee said: This contract heralds a whole new, and very exciting, approach to the way in which we manage our waste. We have been very fortunate to have two excellent proposals from the two final bidders. I will now consider the recommendation carefully before making my decision.
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