2 May 2013
Managing Editor of Waste Management World magazine
A consortium of Greek construction company, Aktorand Greek infrastructure developer, companies,Helektor has won a contract to build a 410,000 tonne per year mechanical biological treatment (MBT) facility which will produce refuse derived fuel (RDF) in Sofia, Bulgaria.
According to a report by the Sofia Globe Sofia City Hall picked the consortium despite offering a higher price of 213.5 million leva ($143.4 million) because it offered a lower cost for processing waste – 60.69 leva ($40.77) per tonne, compared to the 72.43 ($48.66) leva per tonne offered by the second-placed bidder, Sadinata 2012 consortium.
The report said that the contract marks the second phase of the planned waste processing facility which will serve Bulgaria’s capital city.
The decision to select the Aktor-Helektor consortium was also reported to be influenced by the significantly lower amount of waste that would be landfilled, which was in line with City Hall targets.
City Hall said that the RDF produced by the plant will be used by the city’s heating utility, Toplofikatsiya Sofia, and will reduce the company’s use of natural gas by at least 10%, the city hall said in a statement.
According to the report the two consortiums were the only ones whose bids were deemed to meet the tender criteria, with three others disqualified.
Aktor-Helektor is reported to have 19 months from the signing of the contract to build the plant.
This is the second stage of a 346 million leva ($242 million) waste management project, funded largely with EU money. In total, the report said that EU funding will cover 84% of the costs of the project.
