Official UK procurement notice
Kent Bioresources Request for Information
Authority: Southern Water Services Limited (Public body)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionProject Purpose
Southern Water Services Limited (SWS) is initiating the Kent Bioresources Project to modernise and consolidate its sludge treatment operations across Kent. The project forms a key part of SWS’s long-term bioresources strategy to deliver a more efficient, resilient, and compliant asset base aligned with future environmental standards and the company’s AMP8 priorities.
Background
Southern Water currently treats approximately 6 million m³ of sewage sludge per year across its wastewater treatment network, operating 16 sludge treatment centres (STCs) supported by a large transport and recycling operation. In Kent, the current system comprises seven STCs processing around 42,000 tonnes dry solids (TDS) annually.
A combination of ageing infrastructure, evolving regulation, and tightening environmental standards — including restrictions on landbank use, air-emission limits, and emerging contaminants such as PFAS — necessitates a shift toward advanced, centralised treatment solutions.
Project Vision
The Kent Bioresources Project proposes to consolidate seven existing sludge treatment centres into three new “super-sites” that will employ Advanced Anaerobic Digestion (AAD), CHP biogas utilisation, or biomethane upgrading for grid injection. The indicative preferred sites are:
- Ashford STC (South Kent)
- Ham Hill STC (North Kent)
- Motney Hill WTW (Medway) – this has been added since the last market engagement.
Sites are expected to require full redevelopment, including new reception, digestion, dewatering, and energy recovery infrastructure.
We also have commenced feasibility studies for plants in Hampshire and Sussex to be upgraded to AAD too.
Delivery Approach
Southern Water is exploring delivery through a single third-party DBFOM (Design, Build, Finance, Operate, Maintain) contract, though alternative contracting structures remain open for market input.
Indicative features include:
- Long-term, performance-based contract structure.
- Off-balance-sheet treatment of capital investment preferred.
- Potential Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) or consortium delivery model.
- Opportunities for collaboration among civil contractors, technology providers, funders, and operators.
CPV: Construction works for sewage treatment plants, purification plants and refuse incineration plants
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Southern Water Services Limited buys Construction works for plants, mining and manufacturing and for buildings relating to the oil and gas industry (CPV 4525), and who usually turns up
Southern Water Services Limited’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: Construction works for plants, mining and manufacturing and for buildings relating to the oil and gas industry (CPV 4525) →
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 registered in South East England.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered outside 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 79 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%
2–320%
4–650%
7+20%
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 estimate55%
Within ±2%27%
Above estimate18%
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 4525Estimate 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 223 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid12%
2–326%
4–626%
7+37%
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
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- 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
- 13 Nov 2025, 14:56 GMT
- Last source update
- 13 Jan 2026, 14:35 GMT
- Authority reference
Prj_7120 / pqq_907- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-002717- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-05e09cFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
13 Nov 2025 → 1 Apr 2027 · 5 dates- Planning notice published342 days ago13 Nov 2025, 14:56 GMT
- Latest notice published281 days ago13 Jan 2026, 14:35 GMT
- Market engagement203 days ago31 Mar 2026, 23:59 BST
To participate in the RFI please go to southernwater.ukp.app.jaggaer.com/esop/guest/go/opport… ↗
And follow the instructions in PQQ_907 Kent Bioresources Request for information. The RFI will remain open until 31st January. By registering you will also receive details on our townhall event expected in Spring 2026 followed by 1-2-1 bilateral sessions with competent providers and investors.
This RFI follows on from, and has been informed by, the market engagement activities undertaken in early 2024, details of which can be found here www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/004012-2024 ↗.
These earlier sessions, including a market engagement event and subsequent one-to-one discussions, provided valuable insights into market capacity, delivery preferences, and potential partnership models. The feedback received has helped shape the current approach and the areas of focus set out in this Request for Information.
Market Engagement Objectives
Through this RFI, Southern Water seeks to:
- Gauge market appetite across the investor, construction, and technology supply chain.
- Understand preferred contracting and financing models.
- Explore innovative technical solutions (e.g., alternative advanced treatment processes, resource recovery, or third-party waste integration).
- Identify key delivery risks, interfaces, and opportunities for resilience.
- Tender notice expected49 days ago1 Sept 2026, 23:59 BST
- Today21 Oct 2026
- Contract startsin 162 days1 Apr 2027, 00:00 BST
Notice history
2 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 13 Nov 2025- Preliminary market engagement notice published13 Nov 2025, 14:56 GMTUK2
- Preliminary market engagement notice published13 Jan 2026, 14:35 GMTUK2
Published amendments (1)
More detailed information how to engage with SWS in the engagement section RFI remains open and that we welcome contractors and investors to our townhall event and bilateral sessions.
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 (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender