Scottish Water has issued a Periodic Indicative Notice to launch an early market engagement initiative for the construction of a major bioresource processing facility with an estimated value of up to £285 million.

Scottish Water (SW) is developing the West Central Bio-Resource project to create a new major bioresource processing facility (utilising thermal hydrolysis Advanced Anaerobic Digestion (AAD) technology - Cambi) to process circa 85,000 tonnes dry solids (tds) per annum at a location in the central belt of Scotland.

The water company says the new asset will produce a class A bioresource product suitable for recycling to agricultural land, maximise energy recovery and reduce the energy usage, carbon footprint and operating costs of bioresource treatment.

Scottish Water is currently working on the design for the project with framework consultants and engaging with the AAD technology provider Cambi to assist in the design.

The water company is now seeking to appoint contractors with experience of delivering and commissioning AAD plants to act as Delivery Partner(s) (Construction) to implement the AAD project.The Delivery Model will be Integrated Design then Build incorporating Early Contractor Involvement (ECI).

The planned construction site start date is April 2027. The estimated value is in the range of £185,000,000 to £285,000,000 GBP (based on 2024 prices). Determining the most cost-effective design is a key aspect of the project.

The utility will consider Consortium, Joint Venture and other arrangements with experience in the delivery and commissioning of similar projects to be considered for this opportunity.

Scottish Water is now inviting interested suppliers to attend a bidders information day will be held at The Principal Grand Central Hotel, Glasgow on Thursday 8th August 2024, starting at 10am.

The intention of the information day is to enable potential bidders to better understand the scope of the project and the procurement process. It will also allow the water company to gather market intelligence and an understanding of the market appetite for the project.

Scottish Water will present the scope of the project, the procurement process and answer any general questions. Should bidders wish to have One-to-one information sessions limited to 30 minutes per organisation with the project team for the bidders will also be available on the day in person or afterwards virtually.

Suppliers who would like to attend are asked to contact Eddie Steedman, via e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it by 5pm on 2nd August 2024, confirming the name of the organisation and company registration number and indicating whether they would like a one-to-one information session. Attendance is restricted to two representatives per company.

Target construction start date for the new facility is April 2027 - estimated date of publication of a formal contract notice is 12 August 2024.

Scottish Water intends to use a two-stage tendering model:

Stage 1: SW may appoint up to 3 Contractors to assist in the ECI stage. This will require contractors to work collaboratively with the Design Consultant, the designated technology provider and Scottish Water to progress the design and consider buildability and commissioning aspects of the proposals.

Stage 2: Once the design is at Gate 80/90 and finalised the Contractor(s) will provide a price for the build and commissioning stage.

Click here to access the PIN documentation.