Official UK procurement notice
Arc Aid Trial Expansion · UK public procurement notice
Authority: NATIONAL GRID ELECTRICITY DISTRIBUTION PLC
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionPurchase of MetrySense 5000 sensors and the associated analysis software licenses to expand the trial developed during a joint NIA Arc Aid project. There will be an initial purchase of 130 sets of MetrySense sensors to test the scalability of the solution with an option to purchase an additional 106 sets of sensors, subject to successful implementation and budgetary sign off.
How this framework works
From the published notice- Type
- Closed framework
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1Awarded
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Direct award
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Notice status
- Awarded without competition
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Utilities
- Commercial structure
- Framework agreement
- Who may use this agreement
- Not stated in the notice; call-off rights may be limited to the establishing authority
- Competition type
- Direct award (no call for competition)
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 8 Aug 2025, 11:40 BST
- Last source update
- 8 Aug 2025, 11:40 BST
- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-047203- Latest notice
- Transparency notice (UK5)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-058405Find a Tender
- Why no open competition
- Single Suppliers Technical Reasons
- Published justification
Competition is absent for technical reasons and there are no reasonable alternatives (Procurement Act 2023, Schedule 5, paragraph 6): Arc Suppression Coil (ASC) earthed systems are prevalent on the 33kV and 11kV distribution networks in National Grid Electricity Distribution's (NGED) South West licence area. They were developed early in the 20th century due to the difficulty in achieving low enough earth resistance to operate the incumbent protection systems for high-impedance earth faults.
A drawback of ASC systems is that they cannot identify the earth fault location or the specific faulty feeder. Consequently, network control engineers typically must carry out strategic network
switching to isolate the faulted feeder, often disconnecting customers on healthy feeders in the process.
A joint Network Innovation Allowance (NIA) project 'Arc Aid' was created between UK Power Networks (UKPN) and NGED and successfully developed and trialled a novel advanced grid sensor, the MetrySense 5000, developed by Megger to solve this issue and integrate the results into the NGED Network Management System. Building on the success of the NIA project, this contract seeks to deploy and test this solution at scale.
Notice history
2 events · 1 release on Find a Tender · since 8 Aug 2025- Transparency notice published8 Aug 2025, 11:40 BSTUK5
- Contract signature expected8 Sept 2025, 23:59 BSTscheduled
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| MEGGER LIMITED8 Sept 2025 – 7 Sept 2028Options: Option to purchase an additional 103 sets of MetrySense 5000 sensors and associated analysis software licenses, subject to successful implementation and budgetary sign off. | £1,200,000 inc. VAT | — | Standstill |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Framework contractors & participating bidders
1 commercial party on the notice- MEGGER LIMITEDFramework contractor
Official documents & specifications (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Transparency notice Transparency notice on Find a Tender