Thames Water has awarded a contract for complete emissions monitoring testing at its Combined Heat and Power Plants (CHPs) and Sludge Powered Generators (SPGs).

Thames Water is required to undertake the emissions monitoring testing under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2008.

At the CHP sites, the requirement is for periodic monitoring, typically an annual emissions test of CHP engines and boilers, that are combusting biogas (arising from the sewage treatment process) for energy.

At the SPG sites, the requirement is for Continuous Emissions Monitoring Systems (CEMs) for regulated activities which cover existing waste incineration installations, where sludge cake is incinerated within fluidised bed-furnaces.

Thames was seeking to appoint an Emissions Monitoring Managing Environmental Consultant (EMMEC) covering all  its CHP and SPG sites. Currently there are 17 CHP sites and 2SPG sites in scope - however, the water company’s future requirements could change to cover additional CHPs and Advanced Energy Recovery (Pyrolysis).

Scope of the contract is to complete all emissions monitoring from the planning stage, through to testing, reporting and interpretation. The EMMEC will be responsible for the day to day management of all aspects of the emissions monitoring programme.

The contract, which was tendered in Lots, has been awarded to Burton-on-Trent firm SOCOTEC UK Ltd, one of four companies in the bidding for the work. The company was formed following the acquisition in March 2017 of ESG, the leading UK provider of testing, inspection and certification services in the construction and infrastructure sectors, by French-headquartered SOCOTEC Group.

Estimated value of the contract, which runs for an initial term of 3 years with options to extend up to a maximum of 8 years, is £1,336,764

The acquisition gave SOCOTEC a platform in the UK and doubled its revenue outside France to 30%.

SOCOTEC is currently developing a third platform in Germany, with the acquisitions of Pielok Marquardt and ZPP Ingenieure since May 2017.