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Construction Contract Leads

Scope

Reference

CRN/2026/50

Description

Stoke-on-Trent City Council (the Authority) seeks to procure a replacement Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) in Hanford, Stoke-on-Trent.

The Authority intends to procure a new ERF with a capacity of 230,000-290,000 tonnes per annum on an 80% Council / 20% private sector ownership basis. The procurement encompasses Design and Build (D&B) and a 25-year Operations and Maintenance (O&M) contract. The Authority will submit a planning application in due course for the future Facility.

Key requirements:

• Design and build of a new ERF with moving grate combustion technology (or equivalent) and advanced flue-gas treatment systems

• Integration of Combined Heat and Power (CHP) technology to deliver low-carbon heat to the city's District Heat Network to supply Local Sector anchor loads.

• Heat to be delivered to the ERF site boundary for onward distribution by the Heat Network Provider

• The facility must be Carbon Capture Ready and aligned with the Authority's Net Zero 2050 strategy

• Full 25-year operations and maintenance service post-commissioning, including planned and reactive maintenance, lifecycle asset replacement, environmental monitoring and community education services

Total value (estimated)

• £1,100,000,000 excluding VAT
• £1,320,000,000 including VAT

Above the relevant threshold

Contract dates (estimated)

• 2 September 2027 to 3 October 2056
• Possible extension to 3 October 2071
• 44 years, 1 month, 2 days

Description of possible extension:

The Employer may, at its sole discretion, give written notice to extend the contract by 5 years, subject to the parties agreeing the terms of such extension. This option may be exercised up to three times.

Main procurement category

Services

CPV classifications

• 42320000 - Waste incinerators
• 45252300 - Refuse-incineration plant construction work
• 71314000 - Energy and related services

Contract locations

• UKG23 - Stoke-on-Trent

Submission

Submission type

Tenders

Tender submission deadline

15 April 2026, 11:59pm

Submission address and any special instructions

Tenders may be submitted electronically

Yes

Languages that may be used for submission

English

Award decision date (estimated)

2 September 2027

Award criteria

Weighting description

The selection process for this procurement operates in two stages. At Stage 1 (this PSQ), all interested parties are invited to submit a Pre-Selection Questionnaire response. Responses will be evaluated on a pass/fail basis against Parts 2, 3a and 3b and a

Financial Assessment (Section 5).

Bidders who achieve a pass on all mandatory elements will be assessed against the Scored Technical Questions in Section 7.

The Council intends to shortlist up to 5 bidders to proceed to Stage 2 (Invitation to...

Participate in Dialogue). Where more than 5 bidders pass the mandatory elements, the Section 7 scores will be used to determine the shortlist.

Economic and Financial Standing (Pass or Fail)

Section 5 is assessed on a pass/fail basis, requiring applicants to demonstrate sufficient economic and financial standing to deliver the contract with minimal risk of failure. To pass, applicants must provide all requested financial information - including accounts converted to GB sterling where applicable - and meet the Council's minimum financial thresholds as set out in the accompanying evaluation methodology. Failure to provide the required information, or failure to meet the minimum standard, will result in rejection, and the Council reserves the right to exclude an applicant at any stage of the procurement process - including prior to contract award - if financial standing requirements are not or are no longer satisfied. Detail provided in the Economic and Financial Standing Evaluation Criteria Evaluation Methodology for Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ).

Technical Questions (Scored)

The scored technical questions (7.1-7.7) will be independently evaluated by a panel, with each evaluator scoring responses individually before a moderated group consensus exercise is held. Each question must be answered in full with no cross-referencing, as only information within the response to that question will be considered. Clarification may be sought by the Council, though applicants cannot use this to improve their answers. Final consensus scores are weighted and combined to produce a total score out of 100%.

Scored Technical Questions:

Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) Case Study (Weight: 20%)

EPC Packaging (Weight: 20%)

EPC O&M Interface (Weight: 20%)

Availability and ERF Performance (Weight: 15%)

Managing O&M Budgets (Weight: 10%)

Permitting (Weight: 5%)

Social Value and Community Benefit (Weight: 10%)

Other information

Conflicts assessment prepared/revised

Yes

Procedure

Procedure type

Competitive flexible procedure

Competitive flexible procedure description

This is Stage 1 of a multiple stage Competitive flexible procedure. Interested suppliers are invited to complete a Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ) to demonstrate that they meet the conditions of participation set out in the Tender Notice and PSQ Information Pack.

The Council will assess submissions against mandatory exclusion grounds (Schedule 6, Procurement Act 2023), discretionary exclusion grounds (Schedule 7), and technical and financial selection criteria. Short listed supplier will be invited to the next stage to submit a technical and commercial response.

For full information and access to the documents please use the following link:

Contracting authority

Stoke on Trent City Council

• Public Procurement Organisation Number: PDQZ-1442-RZTZ

Civic Centre, Glebe Street

Stoke-on-Trent

ST4 1HH

United Kingdom

Email: categorymanagement [at] stoke.gov.uk

Region: UKG23 - Stoke-on-Trent

Organisation type: Public authority - sub-central government