Official UK procurement notice
Barrow EnergyDock Floating Solar - Royal Port of Barrow
Authority: Associated British Ports
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionAssociated British Ports (ABP) is exploring market capability and appetite to deliver a utility-scale floating solar array at Cavendish Dock, Barrow-in-Furness. The indicative project is a circa 32 megawatt (MW) floating solar installation occupying approximately 18 hectares with annual output capable of powering the equivalent of 10,100 homes. The market engagement will inform ABP’s procurement, packaging and contract strategy, providing insights into appropriate delivery models (including but not limited to EPC and EPC+O&M), key risks and constraints (including marine environment, moorings/anchoring, electrical and civil balance of plant and grid connection), and the supply chain’s ability to meet the programme.
CPV: Electrical engineering installation works · Engineering works and construction works · Solar energy · Solar installation · Solar panels
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Associated British Ports buys Solar energy (CPV 0933), and who usually turns up
Associated British Ports’s own published record, next to the published market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are kept out: they attract a different number of bids. Whole-market view: Solar energy (CPV 0933) →
How the contest usually goes
Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.
i
How often small and medium firms win.
Share of awards where the winner’s size is known.
The counts under this question show how many awards have a known supplier size.
Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.
i
How often local firms win similar work.
Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.
Here, local means the winner is registered in the region where that contract was delivered.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered outside Greater London.
i
How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the deadline to the first award notice, on competitions that published both dates.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Half of these awards were announced within 99 days of the bid deadline.
i
How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.
Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.
The market share is a minimum: some awards have no bid count.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
Awards are recorded, but published direct routes and bid counts do not establish this buyer’s share.
How many bids did past lots attract?
i
How many bids past lots received.
Each colour is a bid-count range. Only competed lots with a published count are included.
Past bids do not predict this tender.
1 bid4%
2–321%
4–614%
7+61%
How did awards compare with estimates?
i
Where winning prices landed against estimates.
Each colour shows awards below, close to or above the published estimate, one lot at a time.
Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.
Below estimate52%
Within ±2%24%
Above estimate24%
Assess each lot i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list
Lot #1CPV 0933Estimate not published
i
How many bids this lot may attract.
The forecast uses similar past competitions. The bar shows either that forecast or past bid counts; the line below says which.
Each lot shows its own forecast based on its own category; forecasts for different lots of the same notice are not comparative. The bar shows 20 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid0%
2–330%
4–655%
7+15%
i
Where the award price may land.
The forecast uses similar awards and the buyer’s estimate. The band covers the middle half of likely prices.
No comparable awards for this lot yet.
A statistical guide from past awards, not a price to bid.
Who has supplied this buyer on similar work? i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
No earlier contract of this buyer matches this lot on the published record.
Who could compete for this lot? i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
Candidate suppliers for this notice have not been worked out yet, so this is not a verdict that nobody fits.
About this data
- Source. Official UK public procurement notices (Find a Tender), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. New notices arrive through the day; the figures are rebuilt nightly.
- Two views, kept apart. The authority’s own track record and the wider market for the same kind of work sit side by side and are never mixed. Where the local picture is too thin, a figure widens to a broader market and says which one it used.
- Forecasts are labelled. The price forecast and its range, possible competitors and the earlier-work matches are our estimates from past awards: not published facts, not win chances and not price advice. Official notices do not say who is bidding.
- Every figure shows what it rests on. Not every notice publishes a bid count, a value or a delivery region, so each figure carries the number of records behind it, and one built on few records is marked as such. The on a figure explains it; the counting rules are in the methodology. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Works
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Utilities
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 5 Feb 2026, 16:34 GMT
- Last source update
- 5 Feb 2026, 16:34 GMT
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-010686- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Not published
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-064970Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
5 Feb 2026 → 28 Aug 2026 · 4 dates- Planning notice published258 days ago5 Feb 2026, 16:34 GMT
- Market engagement223 days ago12 Mar 2026, 23:59 GMT
Purpose of this UK2 Notice: to invite suppliers to participate in preliminary market engagement for the Barrow EnergyDock Floating Solar project. ABP intends to:
- publish a briefing pack and project overview on the ABP Supplier Portal;
- capture supply chain capability, capacity, market insights and feedback via a Microsoft Forms questionnaire (accessible through the portal); and
- offer optional engagement sessions focused on EPC contractors/consortia.
- Insights from engagement will inform ABP’s procurement strategy, commercial and delivery approach.
This UK2 is not a call for competition.
Engagement structure:
- Launch project and information on ABP Supplier Portal with project overview.
- MS Forms questionnaire published to capture capability, capacity and feedback.
- Targeted engagement sessions with EPC contractors/consortia.
- Following the market engagement exercise ABP will consider the outcomes. If a decision is to proceed, a procurement strategy will be developed, and a procurement procedure will be undertaken in accordance with the Procurement Act 2023 to appoint a suitably qualified and experienced contractor.
Desired Respondents:
- EPC contractors experienced in utility-scale floating or terrestrial solar (≥10 MW) or large-scale solar-plus-marine works.
- OEMs for floating solar platforms and anchoring/mooring systems; PV module and inverter manufacturers offering bankable warranties.
- Civil and Electrical balance-of-plant providers (HV cabling, substations/transformers, Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA), directional drilling) and grid connection specialists.
- Operations & Maintenance (O&M) providers with demonstrable track record in floating solar, terrestrial solar or offshore renewables; asset management and performance.
How to Participate:
Suppliers should register on the ABP Supplier Portal and search for the Barrow EnergyDock Floating Solar – Market Engagement. Complete the MS Forms questionnaire via the portal to be considered for engagement sessions. Queries should be submitted through the portal messaging function.
ABP Supplier Portal – in-tendhost.co.uk/abp/aspx/Home ↗
Additional Information:
- This preliminary market engagement is conducted under Procurement Act 2023. Publication of this UK2 notice precedes any UK4 tender notice. Interested parties will not be prejudiced by any response or failure to respond to this early engagement notice. Participation does not confer any advantage in a future procurement or guarantee an invitation to participate in any future procurement process that ABP conduct.
- This Early engagement Notice does not constitute a call for competition to procure any works or services and in not published to reduce time limits for the receipt of tenders.
- ABP are not liable for any costs, fees or expenses incurred by any party responding to the Early Engagement Notice or any party who may participated in any future procurement process.
- In the event that ABP decides to proceed with any procurement it is assumed this will be carried out in accordance with the procurement regulations enforceable at that time.
- This Early Engagement Notice does not constitute any commitment by ABP to undertake any procurement exercise for this project.
- ABP may share a summarised procurement strategy resulting from the engagement insights.
- Tender notice expected215 days ago20 Mar 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract starts55 days ago28 Aug 2026, 00:00 BST
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published5 Feb 2026, 16:34 GMTUK2
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Pipeline notice- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender