Black & Veatch with civil engineering partner Clugston Construction will now prepare to start construction of the £72m bio-energy facility.

Clugston’s £14.9m subcontract package includes, ground preparation and stabilisation, involving recycling of existing concrete structures and installation of 300 CFA piles.

This will be followed by construction of the foundations for tanks, control buildings and installation of ductile iron pipework and cable ducting.

3D drawing of the Knostrop waste water treatment works in East Leeds

Along with a new central process building, Clugston will also be responsible for installation of 15,000 sq m of link roads and 10,000 sq m of hard standing.

The Knostrop waste water treatment works has been treating sewage for more than 100 years.

The new facility will replace the existing sludge and bio-solid incinerator which was constructed in 1993 and enable the more efficient and effective treatment of sewage combined with the additional benefit of renewable power production from the waste water effluent.

Nevil Muncaster, Director of Asset Management, said: “This is the single biggest investment of our current investment period and will not only provide increased treatment capacity for our sludges but will also deliver significant operational cost savings enabling us to keep customer bills as low as possible.

“Knostrop is designated as a strategic waste site so by increasing the future sludge and bio-solid treatment capacity of the works the project will support also growth in the Leeds sub-regions.”

Planned for completion in 2019 the facility will be capable of processing 131 tonnes of dry sludge a day and will generate enough renewable energy, using heat and power engines, to provide 55% of Knostrop’s energy needs – enough to power 8,000 homes.