Request for documents relating to the procurement of an energy recovery facility at the Edmonton EcoPark

Nature of Request
NLHPP future services
Case id
2021-100

Request

Date received

I would like to see all documents and correspondence related to the procurement process for the construction of the EfW plant, henceforth referred to as the 'incinerator'. There have been some suggestions in the press that one of the shortlisted contractors for the incinerator is not a 'real' bidder for this work and would prefer not to be successful. The source is https://www.endswasteandbioenergy.com/article/1708177/cnim-signals-move-away-efw-business
and the wording as follows: ' Currently, CNIM is in the running to build the vast Edmonton-based EfW plant, in competition with Spain-based Acciona Industrial and Switzerland Hitachi Zosen Inova (HZI). However, a source in the EfW sector told ENDS the company is only “nominally” involved in the bidding process to give the project three potential winners and would prefer not to win the deal after suffering financial issues with a series of other EfW builds.'

This would suggest that the NLWA only has two serious contenders for the construction of the incinerator rather than three, which would be good practice; or that the bidders are colluding , in concert with the NLWA or amongst themselves, to put forward bids to create the impression of a competitive tender while having already decided on on the preferred contractor. This creates serious concern about whether the preferred bidder will represent value for money.

Please hand over all correspondence, documents etc to confirm the tender process for the incinerator is competitive, follows good practice requirements and guidelines, and that the chosen contractor's will be the best possible value for money.

Many thanks.

 

Response

Response date
  1. NLWA Response

The procurement process for the energy-recovery-facility (ERF) 1] which forms a key part of the North London Heat and Power Project (NLHPP) at the Edmonton EcoPark is currently underway. The procurement is following an OJEU (Official Journal of the European Union) process compliant with all the necessary legislation and regulations.

The following information about the procurement process for the ERF is freely available in the public domain, principally from the market awareness information in the pre-procurement phase and the tender which was advertised in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Relevant information includes:

Because the procurement is underway this means that the majority of the remaining information you have requested for the later stages of the procurement is not releasable under the Environmental Information Regulations. The information is exempt from release under Regulation 12 (5) (e) and 12 (5)(f) i.e. it is

  • Commercial or industrial information where such confidentiality is provided by law to protect legitimate economic interest;

or

  • The interests of the supplier of the information, where supply was voluntary and supplier has provided no consent;

Further detail about these exceptions is available on the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) website at https://ico.org.uk/media/for-organisations/documents/1624/eir_confidentiality_of_commercial_or_industrial_information.pdf

We have carried out a public interest test before coming to the conclusion that much of the information you have requested is exempt from release. 

The public interest arguments for releasing this information are:

  • That by releasing further procurement information about the replacement ERF at the Edmonton EcoPark this would provide transparency to tax payers about the process being undertaken by NLWA.

The public interest arguments for withholding this information are:

  • That NLWA is following a proper procurement process where the protection of commercially confidential procurement information is necessary to protect procurement confidentiality in line with legal requirements.
  • That if NLWA released the information this may jeopardise the ability of the Authority to secure value for money in the procurement process.

On balance we have therefore concluded that the public interest in maintaining the exception outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

Some of the information you have requested is internal correspondence which is also exempt from release under Regulation 12 (4) (e) of the Environmental Information Regulations, namely that the request involves the disclosure of internal communications.

The public interest arguments for releasing internal correspondence are:

  • That by releasing correspondence about the procurement process, this would provide a greater level of understanding about the decisions being made in relation to the procurement.

The public interest argument for withholding this information is:

  • That if NLWA released the information this may jeopardise the ability of the Authority to secure value for money in the procurement process.

On balance we have therefore concluded that the public interest in maintaining the exception outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

The scale of the procurement correctly obliges the NLWA, as a public authority, to undertake it in accordance with the requirements of Directive 2014/24/EU on public procurement. This has been transposed into UK law as the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. The documents confirm that the Authority is properly following these procedures.

Yours sincerely,

 

[1] We use the term energy-recovery-facility (ERF) rather than ‘incinerator’ because the thermal efficiency of the plant will ensure that it is classified as a ‘recovery’ or R1 facility, rather than a ‘disposal’ facility, which is the description used for an incinerator.