Official UK procurement notice
Design & Development of CO2 Condenser
Authority: UK Fusion Energy Ltd (Public body)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe following summary is not intended as a complete or definitive specification of the requirement. A purpose of this engagement notice is to seek information from the market to help refine our understanding and aid the development of a future specification.
UKIFS is seeking experts to support the design and development of a CO2 condenser that is part of the STEP power cycle. This is because a high-performance CO2 condenser is critical to the efficiency of the STEP powerplant (supercritical and/or transcritical CO2 power generation cycles are currently the preferred concept for the STEP prototypic plant). The proposed technical and operating conditions of the proposed CO2 condenser are:
•Operating pressure is between ca. 60-100 bar for the CO2 stream
•Operating inlet temperature will be between ca. 50 - 110°C. The outlet temperature will be between ca. 20-25 °C for the CO2 stream.
•Thermal duty is in the range of 1-2 GWth.
•The equipment must comply with UK pressure equipment regulations.
Please be aware, any future procurement activity associated with the CO2 condenser PME will likely occur in Tranche 2B of STEPs programme. T2B is due to start in April 2029 and is subject to formal sign-off of our design (T2A) and agreement of the whole T2B plan
For more information about this opportunity, please visit the Delta eSourcing portal at:
ukifs.delta-esourcing.com/tenders/UK-UK-Culham… ↗
To respond to this opportunity, please click here:
CPV: Electrical power systems design services · Engineering design services · Plant engineering design services
How this dynamic market works
From the published notice- Type
- Dynamic market
- Market period
- 4 yrs 1 mo from 1 Apr 2029
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedWhat it takes to wini
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published; the tender pack may add morei
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
- “Design & Development of CO2 Condenser” is a dynamic market: the contest is a place on its panel, not a single contract.
Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How UK Fusion Energy Ltd buys Engineering design services (CPV 7132), and who usually turns up
UK Fusion Energy Ltd’s own published record, next to the published market for the same work. This notice is a framework or DPS, so only frameworks and DPS are compared. Whole-market view: Engineering design services (CPV 7132) →
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.
No winner locations published for this authority. Local means a registered address in South East England.
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 28 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.
Missing bid counts may hide more single-bid awards. This share is a minimum.
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 bid0% / 17%
2–322% / 0%
4–644% / 0%
7+33% / 83%
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.
On a framework or DPS, prices are agreed when work is called off.
Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.
Not comparable on a framework or DPS. The notice sets up a supplier panel and a ceiling value; what the work actually costs is agreed later, on each call-off or mini-competition, and those publish as contract notices of their own. The award-vs-estimate record of this market therefore sits on the call-offs; this page shows it on the contracts, not on the panel that frames them.
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 7132No real estimate
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 94 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid2%
2–320%
4–612%
7+66%
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
- Services
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Dynamic market
- Who may use this agreement
- Any qualifying supplier may apply while the market is open
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 16 Jan 2026, 16:05 GMT
- Last source update
- 16 Jan 2026, 16:05 GMT
- Authority reference
PP-UKIFS-526- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-004045- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0607feFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Admission period ends
- —
Timeline
16 Jan 2026 → 1 Apr 2029 · 3 dates- Planning notice published277 days ago16 Jan 2026, 16:05 GMT
- Market engagement234 days ago27 Feb 2026, 23:59 GMT
Scope of Preliminary Market Engagement Activities:
This Preliminary Market Engagement (PME) exercise is intended to gather information from potential suppliers regarding the design and development of CO2 condensers. The engagement is currently expected to take place in two stages: The first stage involves a written submission via the questionnaire, which should be returned by 13:00 hrs on 27th February 2026. The second stage will be an online presentation (delivered by UKIFS) and Q&A session that multiple suppliers may attend. This is anticipated to be the week commencing 16th March 2026 (indicative only).
For the avoidance of doubt: Suppliers who wish to attend the presentation and Q&A session will need to confirm that they wish to participate by indicating this within the questionnaire and submitting this via Delta as directed.
Supplier's who do not to respond to this notice are NOT thereby excluded from any subsequent tender process for this workstream.
As part of this PME, UKIFS may carry out a range of activities. These may include, but are not limited to: issuing follow-up questions to suppliers and reviewing their responses; engaging in discussions with suppliers either collectively or individually, such as through webinars or workshops; seeking feedback on proposed requirements; exploring procurement approaches; identifying potentially suitable suppliers; assessing market capacity; and discussing possible contractual terms. PME may also be used to support the development of award criteria and the refinement of tender documentation.
Any information provided in this notice, such as CPV codes, estimated contract values, anticipated contract dates and durations, and proposed engagement timelines - are indicative only and based on UKIFS's current understanding. These details may be subject to change. The purpose of PME is to improve our understanding of the market, refine our requirements, and shape our procurement strategy. The list of activities included here is illustrative rather than exhaustive, and the nature, extent and timetable of engagement may evolve in line with UKIFS's needs.
- Today20 Oct 2026
- Contract starts1 Apr 2029, 00:00 BST
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published16 Jan 2026, 16:05 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