Midlothian Council has created a new Energy Services Company - Midlothian Energy Limited (MEL). MEL is a 50/50 joint venture with the Swedish state-owned energy firm, Vattenfall. The Council procured Vattenfall as its energy partner through competitive dialogue.
MEL will carry out a range of low carbon energy projects across Midlothian and surrounding areas. The inital focus is to use heat from the Energy from Waste Plant at Millerhill, Midlothian to supply a new district heat network for the emerging new town of Shawfair.
Key highlights
- Advising on the commercial structure in the original project business case.
- Design of competitive dialogue procurement process.
- Supporting the Council to achieve its objectives through negotiations with bidders.
- Incorporation of the joint venture vehicle including corporate governance arrangements.
- Full contract support including the concession agreement with MEL.
The launch of Midlothian Energy represents a major step towards decarbonising heat supplies to buildings in the area. The use of a joint venture is an innovative approach to delivering heat networks in Scotland and plays to the strengths of the public and private sector partners. Dr Paul Moseley, Associate Director at the Scottish Futures Trust
Outcome
The scale of the project and the novel project structure is a first for Scotland and will contribute to the decarbonisation of heat in Midlothian and surrounding areas.
The project demonstrates our position as market leader in the district heating sector as well as our ability to combine our energy and public sector expertise to help shape the structure of this unique project.
Our approach to designing the competitive dialogue procurement helped the Council to streamline the process and choose an energy partner to deliver this ambitious project against a challenging timetable.
Contributors
Partner
Legal Director