The Boldt Co. of Appleton, Wis., and the British consulting firm AMEC have been selected as the engineering and construction contractors for the conversion of the coal-fired power plant on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus to burn natural gas and biomass.

The Boldt-AMEC team was selected after a competitive selection process that was launched in March for the $250 million project, according to the Wisconsin Department of Administration.

Now that the team has been selected, the agency said it will work to negotiate a contract with the firms.

Boldt is heavily involved in construction projects specifying renewable energy, including ethanol plants and wind farms.

It has also been selected as contractor for two We Energies renewable energy projects: the Glacier Hills Wind Park northeast of Madison and the proposed biomass energy project at the Domtar Corp. paper mill in Rothschild, Wis.

The British firm AMEC has experience working with the paper industry and biomass energy on numerous projects.

AMEC and Boldt worked together on construction of an addition to the Manitowoc Public Utilities coal plant in Manitowoc, completed in 2006.

The Charter St. plant is a heating plant, providing heating for the UW campus.

The state is converting to biomass and natural gas as part of a settlement of a Sierra Club lawsuit claiming that the coal plant violated air pollution laws.

The Charter St. plant is slated to stop burning coal by fall 2011, and the construction project is scheduled for completion in spring 2013.