Northumbrian Water has gone out to tender with a major AMP8/9 contract for the supply of energy and gas across around 1,853 operational sites with an estimated value of £780 million (inc VAT).

Northumbrian Water (NWL) is looking to appoint a partner/s to support its energy supply for current and growing requirements for business services over the next ten years for the import and export of electricity and gas across ~1,853 operational sites.

The contract has been split into the following Lots;

• Lot 1 - Power - Import & Export (HH/NHH/UMS)
• Lot 2 - Gas - Import & Export
• Lot 3 - Meter Operator Services (HH)

Scope of work to be undertaken by the successful bidders is anticipated to be as follows:

• Supply NWL with electricity and gas, offering flexible trading options like day-ahead pricing, seasonal trades, and market-linked export contracts.
• Work in partnership with the Energy & Decarbonisation team and business stakeholders to adhere to business requirements.
• Provide experienced resources with the capability to identify genuine business benefits and opportunities.
• Collaborate effectively with stakeholders to deliver end-to-end energy supply services including handling billing, credit notes, and export invoicing, new connection requests, disconnection requests, settlement and data reporting.
• Manage NWL's energy portfolio, offering tools for reconciliation, forecasting, and strategic planning across multiple sites.
• Provide weekly energy market updates and contributes to NWL's procurement strategy, including supplier interviews and performance KPIs.
• Install and maintain meters, collect half-hourly data, and aggregate it for billing and analysis. This includes export meters and strategic assets.

Core components for each Lot are as follows:

LOT 1 – POWER ( £670 million inc VAT)

Requirement is for a supplier who can fulfil the following contract requirements and intends to put in place a framework agreement for the supply and administration of 1,829 electricity supply points including both import and export (1,314 NHH 515 HH - correct as of July 2025).

The contract has an estimated annual value of £53 million/year (estimated gross of any payments to NWL for electricity export). All electricity contracts must be provided by a single supplier. The successful suppliers must have appropriate supply licenses for import and export and must be able to demonstrate their experience in providing similar services to other clients.

LOT 2 – GAS (£49 million inc VAT)

Requirement is for for a supplier who can fulfil the following contract requirements and intends to put in place a framework agreement for the supply and administration of both import and export gas supply points (25 MPRNs - correct as of July 2025). The requirement is for gas supply contracts for 25 supplies covering import and export of gas. The contract has an estimated annual value of £4 million/year (estimated gross of any payments to NWL for gas export).

All gas contracts must be provided by a single supplier. The successful suppliers must have appropriate supply licences for import and export and must be able to demonstrate their experience in providing similar services to other clients.

LOT 3 - MOP & DC/DA £1 million inc VAT)

Requirement is for a supplier to appoint a Meter Operator (MOP) provider to provide Data Aggregation and Data Collection (DA/DC) Services for any new or existing half-hourly electricity supply points. The MOP agreement will cover the installation, maintenance, and management of energy meters, ensuring accurate usage recording, proper upkeep, and regulatory compliance. As of July 2025, NWG is currently overseeing 515 HH MPANs.

Due to the timeline of this current tender, the water company acknowledges that the Market-wide Half- Hourly Settlement (MHHS) is a significant reform in the UK's electricity market, aiming to transition all electricity meters to half-hourly settlement. As per NWG's understanding, changes which will take place under MHSS are as follows:

• MOPs (Meter Operators) are becoming MOAs (Meter Operating Agents).
• DC/DA roles are being replaced by Smart Data Services (SDS) and Advanced Data
• Services (ADS).
• HH/NHH classifications will be replaced with Smart, Advanced, or UMS.
• Contracts for Metering Services Smart (MSS) or Metering Services Advanced (MSA).

Current estimated start and end contract dates are1 April 2026 to 31 March 2032 with two further possible extension options of two and three years respectively to 31 March 2036

Deadline for submission of enquiries about the tender is 12:00pm on 14 November 2025 and deadline for submission of tenders is 12:00pm on 24 November 2025.

The procurement process is being conducted electronically with all documents and communication being managed through the Northumbrian Water e-Sourcing Spend Management portal 'Ariba' (https://s1.ariba.com).

Expressions of interest must be sent to the e-mail address This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it before the deadline date of 12:00pmon 18th November 2025.

Once an expression of interest has been received that contains the following information:

1. full company name
2. main contact details of the person who will be given access to the Ariba portal - Name, job title, E mail address and telephone number

Applicants will be given access to the Ariba portal within 48 hours from request – the portal will contain all the tender documents associated with the procurement that are available at the time. An email link will also be provided to the email address provided by the applicant to access the portal.

The deadline for return of the completed tenders is 24th November 2025 at 12 noon and estimated award decision date is 1 March 2026.

Five stage procurement process

Stages in the procurement process will consist of the following procedure:

Stage 1: Invitation to participate

Stage 1 commenced with the issuing of a Tender Notice.

Stage 2: conditions of participation & Invitation to submit initial tenders

Stage 2 will commence with the notification, inviting those suppliers which have indicated their interest to participate to submit a conditions of participation questionnaire and initial tenders and the publication of this document. This document includes a request for initial tenders which all suppliers are required to complete and must be submitted in accordance with the Procurement Timetable and instructions set out in this document and any additional information provided.

Once the assessment of initial tenders has concluded, suppliers will be notified in writing whether they have successfully been invited to Stage 3.

Stage 3 - Invitation to participate in dialogue and/or negotiate

Stage 3 will commence with the notification inviting suppliers that have successfully passed Stage 2 to attend one or more dialogue and/or negotiation meetings. The notification will also provide details of any new information made available to suppliers at this stage in the procurement process.

The notification will also describe how the dialogue and/or negotiations will be conducted, including the location and dates for the relevant meetings, as well as the attendee arrangements.

Stage 4: Invitation to submit a Best and Final Offer (BAFO)

Stage 4 will commence with the issuing of a letter inviting suppliers that have been successfully shortlisted at Stage 3 to submit their Best and Final Offers.

Stage 5: preferred supplier stage

After the deadline for submission of best and final offers, NWL will reconsider, in respect of each supplier that submitted, whether the supplier or any related persons within its corporate group, associated suppliers relied on to meet the conditions of participation, or proposed sub-contractors, are excluded or excludable suppliers and will consider whether to disregard the best and final offer.

If the supplier is an excluded or excludable supplier only by virtue of an associated supplier or proposed sub-contractor, NWL will notify the supplier of its intention to disregard its tender and provide the supplier with a reasonable opportunity to replace the associated supplier or sub-contractor.

NWL will conduct an assessment of all Best and Final Offers in order to identify the supplier which has submitted the most advantageous tender. Once the assessment has concluded, NWL will provide an assessment summary to all suppliers that submitted a Best and Final offer to:

1. inform them whether they have been successful in being awarded the contract
2. provide an explanation of the assessment of the supplier's tender against the relevant award criteria
3. where different to the supplier concerned, provide information in respect of the most advantageous tender submitted, including details of the assessment of this tender against the relevant award criteria and the supplier's name

Following the announcement of a contract award, which is subject to completion of a mandatory standstill period, Stage 4 will end with NWL entering into preferred supplier stage with the preferred supplier.

At preferred supplier stage - stage 5 - the highest scoring supplier will be invited to engage in further discussions with NWL as part of a preferred supplier stage. This stage will be used to finalise the draft contract terms and conditions and conclude with the entry of NWL into the contract with the preferred supplier.