Hartlepool Borough Council in the UK has launched a tender for the design, build, financing, commissioning, testing and operation of an energy recovery facility (ERF) project. The estimated value of the project excluding VAT is GBP 2.1 billion (USD 2.7 billion).

The council seeks to procure a solution on behalf of itself and six other local authorities (Darlington Borough Council, Durham County Council, Middlesbrough Council, Newcastle City Council, Redcar, and Cleveland Borough Council and Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council). By 2025/26, it is forecast that the Councils will be producing circa 397 000 tonnes of residual waste per annum. The ERF will be required to have a capacity that is sufficient to receive and treat all of the residual municipal solid waste from each of the Councils as forecast over the term, with any spare capacity being used to treat similar waste from third parties.

The ERF project will be required to have the capacity to at least the Councils’ forecast residual waste over the term, and accommodate changes in waste growth leading to an expected processing capacity of at least 450 000 tonnes of waste per annum towards the end of the term. 

The Councils are seeking a contractor who can provide a facility based on proven technology to dispose of and treat residual municipal solid waste and with the capability to generate electricity and heat for the local economy, thereby minimizing diversion to landfill and climate impacts and maximizing value generated from the waste treated. The chosen contractor will also be responsible for all handling (including storage, marketing, and recycling) of any residues from the facility. Residues must be treated in such a manner as to minimize diversion to landfill and climate impacts and maximize recovery (value from) these materials. The ERF must be constructed on a 10-hectare brownfield site at Grangetown owned by the South Tees Development Corporation which comes with the benefit of outline planning permission.

The contracting authority is set to award a contract to the successful contractor in December 2021 for a 29-year term (including 3-4 years construction phase and at least 25 years operational phase) with an option to extend up to a further 11 years. The successful contractor will be required to accept and manage all contract waste from 1 April 2026. The Councils will incorporate a special purpose vehicle project company during the procurement process to act as the contracting entity.

The deadline for the submission of documents is on September 7, 2020. 

The tender documents can be accessed on our business opportunity page here.