Thames Water has selected its preferred bidder to deliver the £4.2 billion 'super sewer' Thames Tideway Tunnel.

The special purpose company Bazalgette Tunnel is in line to own, finance and deliver the project in the position of Infrastructure Provider.

The company is made up of a consortium of investors comprising funds managed by Allianz, Amber Infrastructure, Dalmore Capital and DIF.

The appointment is subject to a formal designation and licensing by the water industry regulator, Ofwat.

Along with managing the procurement for the Infrastructure Provider, Thames Water has also run a process to select the contractors who will build the project.

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The competitive nature of these processes has paved the way for a substantial reduction in the impact the project is expected to have on customers’ bills.

This will be announced later in the summer, once all the contracts have been signed.

The Infrastructure Provider will be responsible for delivering the Thames Tideway Tunnel, which is required to tackle the discharge of untreated sewage into the tidal River Thames through central London and to significantly increase the capacity in the London sewerage network.

Recently, five sewage treatment works have been upgraded on the tidal Thames (including at Beckton, East London).

However, both the Lee Tunnel and the Thames Tideway Tunnel are needed to stem the 39 million tonnes of untreated sewage that overflows from the capital's Victorian sewerage network.

The tunnel will stretch 25 km beneath the bed of the River Thames, from Acton in the west to Abbey Mills near Stratford in the east.

It will join up with the Lee Tunnel, currently under development by Thames Water.

(LM)