Official UK procurement notice
HiCrIS Full Design & Build
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 is to seek information from the market to help refine our understanding and aid the development of a future specification.
The Hi-CrIS project is being developed under the Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP) programme. STEP plasma will be confined by electromagnets based on high temperature superconductors (SC). These magnetic components will form a substantial part of the STEP Prototype Powerplant (SPP) and represent ~25% of the total cost. With such a substantial element of the SPP being represented by the magnetic components, it is critical to have confidence in the lifetime predictions of the down-selected magnets. To achieve this, investigations of down-selected superconductor (SC) material samples are required under operational conditions: i.e., when SCs are simultaneously irradiated with fusion spectrum neutrons and gammas whilst at their cryogenic operating temperatures, carrying its rated current, and subject to strain and high applied fields (“fusion in-situ conditions”).
STEP has an implementation plan for characterising Rare-earth Barium Copper Oxide (REBCO) for use in its magnetic field coils. This plan involves several key activities which, together, will provide sufficient experimental data to thoroughly examine the properties of a REBCO Coated Conductor (CC) and allow its use in each of STEP’s magnetic field coils to be justified (or not). Running several CCs through this process will then identify which CCs constitute the best choices for each magnetic coil.
STEPs Hi-CrIS Test Rig will enable REBCO CCs samples to be subjected to STEP relevant neutron fluences, at cryogenic temperatures, so that the evolution of their superconducting properties can be determined and evaluated. The data will then be used in conjunction with STEP’s other characterisation activities to allow predictions about STEP’s performance in fusion in-situ conditions to be made and judged based on STEP’s requirements in terms of magnetic lifetime.
For more information about this opportunity, please visit the eSourcing portal at:
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CPV: Design and execution of research and development · Engineering design services · Experimental development services · Machines and apparatus for testing and measuring · Research, testing and scientific technical simulator
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1Planned
Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How UK Fusion Energy Ltd buys Machines and apparatus for testing and measuring (CPV 3854), and who usually turns up
UK Fusion Energy Ltd’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: Machines and apparatus for testing and measuring (CPV 3854) →
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 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.
Both shares are minimums: some awards have no bid count.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
Direct awards or one recorded bid are common here. Check the route before spending time on a bid.
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 bid10% / 50%
2–357% / 50%
4–610% / 0%
7+24% / 0%
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 estimate30% / 57%
Within ±2%65% / 29%
Above estimate5% / 14%
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 3854No real estimate
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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 41 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid12%
2–376%
4–612%
7+0%
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
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 25 Aug 2026, 16:30 BST
- Last source update
- 25 Aug 2026, 16:30 BST
- Authority reference
UKFE-TD-01- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-080991- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06ebdcFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
25 Aug 2026 → 30 Apr 2027 · 3 dates- Planning notice published57 days ago25 Aug 2026, 16:30 BST
- Market engagement26 days ago25 Sept 2026, 23:59 BST
This PME Exercise aims to gather information from potential suppliers on solutions and capabilities in relation to the provision of HiCrIS Full Design & Build. This is not a request for quotation but a preliminary stage to assess the market.
Suppliers responding to this PME Exercise will have the opportunity to contribute insights that may shape the final tender requirements. All answers and correspondence will be used for market sounding purposes only and will be treated confidentially.
Any supplier that chooses to not respond to this PME Exercise will not exclude themselves from any subsequent procurement for this workstream.
Information provided by suppliers during this engagement stage may be used by UKIFS for any or all of the PME purposes (as laid out in section 16 of the Procurement Act 2023).
UKIFS does not seek to obtain confidential, sensitive or proprietary information at this stage, and it is up to suppliers to determine the information that they provide.
Should an NDA or similar be required, please contact UKFE via the messaging function on Delta.
Any estimated contract values and contract dates associated with the PME Exercise are indicative and do not represent a commitment by UKFE.
Neither the Preliminary Market Engagement Notice nor this Preliminary Market Engagement Exercise constitutes a formal commitment to procure.
This PME Exercise does not constitute a formal commitment to procure. UKFE reserves the right to cancel, amend, or delay this exercise, in whole or part, at any stage, without incurring any liability or obligation to any party.
Participation in this PME Exercise is entirely voluntary, and participating is not intended to confer any advantage in any future procurement process.
UKFE may invite interested suppliers to attend a Q&A/discussion session. Suppliers will need to confirm that they wish to participate by indicating this within the PME Questionnaire and submitting this via Delta as directed.
- Today21 Oct 2026
- Contract startsin 190 days30 Apr 2027, 00:00 BST
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published25 Aug 2026, 16:30 BSTUK2
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