Contractors have solely 9 days left to hitch procurement discussions for a megaproject to construct greater than 1,000km of underground and overhead energy strains.
Nationwide Grid Electrical energy Transmission (NGET) revealed a market engagement doc late final week for its New Infrastructure Supply Onshore Programme (NIDOP).
The bundle of works will see numerous main energy circuits created within the UK to facilitate the transfer in direction of net-zero carbon.
Nationwide Grid set a 20 January deadline for contractors to provide suggestions on procurement plans for the massive undertaking. It warned that responding to the proposals was vital for corporations trying to participate in additional engagement earlier than the contracts come to market.
“Please be aware that invites to, and data on, future associated market engagement occasions or actions could also be supplied solely to these individuals who’ve registered by responding to the market engagement doc,” mentioned an official notice. “No additional discover of these subsequent occasions or actions will probably be given to the broader market.”
Nationwide Grid kicked off its pre-procurement exercise in earnest this month after Ofgem revealed its decision on the acceleration of onshore electricity transmission investment shortly earlier than Christmas.
The regulator mentioned its Accelerated Strategic Transmission Funding regulatory framework would initially apply to virtually £20bn of funding within the onshore transmission community – with the “potential for additional funding sooner or later”.
Nationwide Grid mentioned the “scale and complexity” of the infrastructure required for the NIDOP meant it wanted to evaluate its present method to partaking and contracting with the availability chain.
It added that it’s “creating a extra collaborative supply mannequin that includes related Project 13 ideas, the place NGET and provide chain specialists will work collectively to affect options and enhance effectivity and predictability to ship the federal government’s desired outcomes”.
Mission 13 is an Establishment of Civil Engineers coverage that seeks to make procurement collaborative fairly than transactional.
“The scale and scale of this problem is important, the dimensions and scale of the chance equally so,” added the market engagement doc. “We are actually taking our first steps in direction of securing the precise companions. They are going to be aligned with NGET strategically and culturally, have the core functionality we want, however will even be transformative sufficient to have the ability to ship on this ambition.”
Nationwide Grid mentioned five-times extra electrical energy transmission infrastructure was wanted between now and 2030 than was delivered within the earlier three many years.
“The worldwide race to quickly broaden clear power infrastructure and reply to the present power disaster creates important competitors for provide chain assets and expertise,” it added.
A proper contract discover for the NIDOP work is predicted in February.
