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AwardedFind a Tender · award

BVLOS Drone Operationalisation

Buyer: NATIONAL GRID ELECTRICITY TRANSMISSION PLC →

BuyerNATIONAL GRID ELECTRICITY TRANSMISSION PLC
StatusAwarded
DeadlineNot published
ValueValue not published
Published8 Jul 2025

What is being bought

Continued development of an autonomous drone capability to scale routine BVLOS operations across the NGET network.

Lot details

Lot 1

No lot description published.

Statuscomplete

Comparable-procurement analytics

No usable CPV category has been published, so a comparable market set cannot yet be built.

Procurement strategy & market signals

Framework agreementNot published
Dynamic purchasing systemNot published
Competitive procurementNot published
Recurring requirementNot published
Procurement method rationaleCompetition is absent for technical reasons and there are no reasonable alternatives (Procurement Act 2023, Schedule 5, paragraph 6): Through extensive work with National Grid since 2021, sees.ai has developed a distinct operational capability for conducting closequarter, detailed Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) inspection missions on live transmission network assets from a remote location, including extended transits and the use of advanced communications links. As of May 2025, we understand Sees.ai to be the only company holding the specific and advanced Operational Authorisation from the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA)) required to deploy an exclusive capability critical for the delivery of National Grid's specific, advanced network inspection requirements. Operationalisation of this capability is enabled by continuation of joint intellectual property (IP) rights development; advanced proprietary technology; unique operational methodologies; and specialised in-house expertise, cultivated since 2018. National Grid undertakes Visual Line of Sight (VLOS) network asset inspections internally. Other inspection methodologies do not meet National Grid's complex and evolving demands for routine, scalable, and data-rich network oversight. The technical complexity and demonstrated operational safety maturity required by the CAA for the issue of the requisite Operational Authorisation to deliver this work establishes a high technical barrier, resulting in an absence of competition from other third-party suppliers. There are no other reasonable alternatives to Sees.ai currently offering a service of directly comparable scope, precision, safety, or operational efficiency; nor has it been demonstrated to the CAA the critical technical infrastructure, proven methodology, and requisite safety case to meet the standards for obtaining authorisation to carry out this work.
Rationale classificationssingleSuppliersTechnicalReasons
Special regimeutilities
Covered byNot published
Submission policyNot published
Selection criteriaNot published
Risk detailsNot published

Planning & early market engagement

BudgetNot published
No-engagement rationaleNot published
Planning documents0
Planning milestones0

No planning milestones published.

Related procurements

No linked framework, prior procurement or reprocurement published.

Awards

1

Statusactive
Value£22,950,000
Contract periodFrom 8 Jul 2025 to 31 Mar 2026

Documents & submission route

No documents are published in the current source record.

Source data inventory

Diagnostic view. “Not published” means this current release does not provide a value.

OCIDocds-h6vhtk-051f03
Latest release ID038390-2025
Latest release timestampTue Jul 08 2025 16:06:29 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
Sourcefind-a-tender
Official notice URLNot published
Tender statuscomplete
Procurement methoddirect
Procurement method detailsDirect award
Main procurement categoryNot published
Above thresholdNot published
Legal basis2023/54
Tender period: startNot published
Tender period: endNot published
Expression of interest deadlineNot published
Enquiry deadlineNot published
Award period: startNot published
Award period: endNot published
Submission method detailsNot published
Submission languagesNot published
Electronic catalogue policyNot published
Total tender valueNot published
Tender lots in source1
Tender items in source0
Tender documents in source0
Awards in latest release1
Contracts in latest release0
Parties in latest release2

Notice history

DateEventReference
8 Jul 2025award, contract038390-2025
22 May 2025award, contract025236-2025

All source data

Unmodified official OCDS data retained by Tenderline for this procurement process.

Complete current OCDS release JSON
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Complete JSON history (2 releases)
8 Jul 2025 · 038390-2025 · award, contract
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22 May 2025 · 025236-2025 · award, contract
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