Doran Consulting is currently acting as lead consultant for the civil design of the £480M Lostock Sustainable Energy Plant. Located adjacent to Tata Chemicals’ site at Lostock Gralam, Cheshire, the facility has the capacity to process 600,000 tonnes of refuse-derived fuel per year, generating 90MW of electricity.

 

As lead consultant, appointed by CNIM who are the Engineer, Procure & Construct contractor, we are responsible for overseeing and leading the design team which includes Architects, M&E engineers, geotechnical engineers and Landscape Architects. 

Our civil engineering design scope includes:

• Site wide drainage strategy and liaison with the Environment Agency
• Process drainage strategy
• Traffic management strategy
• External hardstanding design
• Site wide retaining wall design
• Design of drainage outfall to adjacent canal.

 

We were responsible for the structural design of the substructures and superstructures for the plant, which consists of the following principal areas:

• Tipping hall.
• Waste bunker, including structures to support the overhead travelling cranes which handle the waste.
• Boiler hall.
• Flue Gas Treatment.
• Turbine hall.
• Workshop and electrical building.
• Pump house.
• Auxiliary fuel tank bunds.
• Step up transformers.
• Substation
• Administration building.
• Air cooled condensers
• Weighbridges and gatehouses.

 

The site was previously occupied by a power station.  Considerable amounts of contaminated ground are present on the site, as well as historic foundations.  A remediation scheme was put in place by the client to stabilise the contaminated material. To minimise the risk of encountering obstructions during piling, the existing foundations were modelled in 3D based on record information, and this model was used to coordinate the new foundation arrangement.  The record information was verified by surveying any foundations which were exposed during demolition and remediation works. Construction of the plant is due to commence in January 2021; enabling works (roads, car parking, drainage etc. started on site in September 2020.