Find a TenderAwarded
Published 7 Jun 2023, 12:07 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Lower Thames Crossing - Low Carbon Hydrogen

Official notice

Authority: National Highways Limited (Central government)·Consortium: 3 public authorities

Framework agreementGoodsCompetitive dialogueSME suitable
Framework ceiling (notional)£50,000,000framework ceiling, not attributable revenue
Submissions closed 8 Aug 2023awarded 18 Aug 2025
Next notice expected 30 Jun 2023

What is being bought

Published requirement description

National Highways is the government company charged with operating, maintaining and improving England's strategic road networks. The Lower Thames Crossing (LTC) is a National Highways project that will build a new road connecting Kent, Thurrock and Essex through a tunnel beneath the River Thames. It will provide much-needed new road capacity across the river east of London, alleviating congestion on the Dartford Crossing. Three Delivery Partners have been appointed to deliver the three main components of the project - Kent Roads, Tunnels & Approaches and Roads North.

National Highways has designated LTC a pathfinder project that will explore carbon neutral construction. Low Carbon Hydrogen is a key element in LTC's strategy to deliver its carbon reduction targets and a key objective of this procurement is to enable a significant reduction in the use of diesel on the programme by enabling the use of hydrogen powered plant, machinery and generators. The procurement covers the supply, delivery, storage on site and dispensing of Low Carbon Hydrogen for use by the LTC appointed Delivery Partners to fuel their construction plant and equipment. Making hydrogen easily available could displace a significant amount of the diesel forecast to be used during construction.

CPV: Civil engineering consultancy services · Construction machinery and equipment · Construction work · Earthmoving and excavating machinery, and associated parts · Electrical machinery, apparatus, equipment and consumables; lighting · Energy-efficiency consultancy services · Hydrogen · Industrial machinery · Machinery for mining, quarrying, construction equipment · Other sources of energy supplies and distribution · Petroleum products, fuel, electricity and other sources of energy · Public utilities

How this framework works

From the published notice
Places
up to 1 suppliers · 3 bids received (3.0 per place) · 1 appointed (full)

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · value published

What it takes to win
i

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 more
How bids were scored
Quality: 50%Price: 50%
Published award criteria (3)
  • Quality: 50
  • Price: 50
  • Price: 50:50
What this means for your bid
  • Price carries 50 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 5 points. This one is won on the number: sharpen the price before polishing the prose.
  • “Lower Thames Crossing - Low Carbon Hydrogen” is a framework: the contest is a place on its panel, up to 1 suppliers, not a single contract.

Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula.

Procedure terms & legal framework

From the official record · publisher note attached
Procedure method
Competitive dialogue
Legal basis
CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)
Procurement category
Goods
Notice status
Awarded
Procurement threshold
Unspecified in notice
Regulatory regime
Standard
Commercial structure
Framework agreement
Who may use this agreement
Not stated in the notice; call-off rights may be limited to the establishing authority
Competition type
Competitive procedure
GPA / WTO covered
Yes (GPA)
Recurring procurement
No (one-off requirement)
First published
7 Jun 2023, 12:07 BST
Last source update
24 Feb 2026, 17:38 GMT
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-016677
Classification (CPV)
Civil engineering consultancy servicesConstruction machinery and equipmentConstruction workEarthmoving and excavating machinery, and associated partsElectrical machinery, apparatus, equipment and consumables; lightingEnergy-efficiency consultancy servicesHydrogenIndustrial machineryMachinery for mining, quarrying, construction equipmentOther sources of energy supplies and distribution
+2 morePetroleum products, fuel, electricity and other sources of energyPublic utilities
Delivery area
UKNorth East (UKC)East of England (UKH)London (UKI)South East (UKJ)South West (UKK)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-03d447 Find a Tender
Contract terms
Performance terms

Please see procurement documents for details.

Review and risk notes
Review procedure

National Highways will incorporate a minimum 10-day standstill period at the point information on award of the contract is communicated to tenderers. Appeals should be lodged in accordance with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (SI 2015 No 102) as amended.

Publisher note: The Contracting Authority will use an e-Sourcing portal in this procurement. General information on how to take part in this procurement is detailed below: 1. Register the Applicant company on the e-Sourcing portal (this is only required once). Check as the Applicant or someone in your organisation may already be registered. 2. Visit https://nationalhighways.ukp.app.jaggaer.com/ and either log on or click the link to register. If registering for the first time the Applicant will be requested to accept the terms and conditions before proceeding. 3. To express Interest in this PQQ (referred to as a ‘SQ’ by National Highways) Login to the portal - Click the 'PQQs/ITTs Open to All Suppliers' link. (This shows all PQQ or ITT’s open to any registered supplier on this portal). Click on this PQQ/ITT to access the content. Click the 'Express Interest' button at the top of the page. This will move the selected item into the Applicants 'My PQQs/ My ITT's page. (This is a secure area reserved for The Applicants projects only). The Applicant can access all attachments to the selected item by clicking into the 'Buyer Attachments' area. 4. To respond to the tender - Click 'My Response' under 'PQQ/ITT Details’, The Applicant can then select either 'Create Response' or 'Decline to Respond' (please enter a reason if declining). Note the deadline for completion, (the closing date) and follow the onscreen instructions to complete your submission. 5. There will be a mixture of online and offline actions for you to perform. Once your submission is fully uploaded and considered complete, submit your reply using the 'Submit Response' button at the top of the page. This stage must be done for The Applicants submission to be considered. 6. The Applicant may save and exit their submission at any time during preparation up till the closing date. If left for a set period of time the system will time out and any unsaved data will be lost. 7. If you require any further technical assistance in the operation of the e-Sourcing portal, please consult the online help or contact the e-Sourcing help desk (0800 069 8630) available from 8am till 6pm. Further information will be set out in the Tender Documents.

How it was run

Official notice
Run through: Jaggaer · Who buys & how to bid on JAGGAER
Supplier login requiredLanguage: EN
Access & registration note: Free; latest Chrome/Edge/Firefox only — corporate browsers fail

Tender documents are also served through a separate tool: https://nationalhighways.ukp.app.jaggaer.com/ ↗

Appointment period ends
8 Aug 2023, 12:00 BST
Submission channel
{"electronicSubmission","written"}
Accepted languages
en
Detailed submission instructions & authority contactsFrom official release

Timeline

30 Jun 2023 → 24 Feb 2026 · 3 dates
  1. Next notice expected
    30 Jun 2023, 00:00 BST
  2. Admission / appointment period endsperiod end, not a bid countdown
    8 Aug 2023, 12:00 BST
  3. Notice published243 days ago
    24 Feb 2026, 17:38 GMT

Notice history

7 events · 4 releases on Find a Tender · since 11 Jul 2023
  1. Status changed to active
    11 Jul 2023, 17:17 BST
  2. Procurement method changed
    11 Jul 2023, 17:17 BST
  3. Deadline published: 8 Aug 2023, 12:00 BST
    11 Jul 2023, 17:17 BST
  4. Buyer details updated
    11 Jul 2023, 17:17 BST
  5. Buyer details updated
    12 Jul 2023, 10:51 BST
  6. Status changed to complete
    24 Feb 2026, 17:38 GMT
  7. Buyer details updated
    24 Feb 2026, 17:38 GMT
Routine re-releases (4)
  • 2023-06: 1 release · 7 Jun 2023

Commercial outcome & contract awards

Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast
Suppliers appointed 1admitted to the panel · see the list ↓
Bids received 32 from SMEs
Contracts signed 1latest 18 Aug 2025

1 suppliers are admitted to this framework without individual award values or dates, see the supplier list below.

Contracts

  • Lower Thames Crossing - Low Carbon Hydrgen

    Signed
    18 Aug 2025
    Value
    £32,600,000
    Status
    active

Bid statistics published by the authority

BidsSMEVCSEValid bid range
3bids · 3 electronic2——

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

2 public bodies on the notice

National Highways

Contracting authorityCentral GovernmentNational or federal agency/officeEconomic affairsGeneral public services 9346363 Bedford, UKContact name, email Published organisation website ↗

Consortium members and other public bodies

  • National Highways LimitedContracting authorityNational or federal agency/officeEconomic affairs9346363 Birmingham, UKContact email, phone

Dispute resolution & review bodies

  • High Court of Justice - EnglandReview body London

Framework contractors & participating bidders

1 commercial party on the notice

Official documents & specifications (4)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Tender pack and attachments

  • Economic and financial selection criteriatenderEconomic and financial selection criteria
  • Technical selection criteriatenderTechnical selection criteria
  • Economic and financial selection criteriatenderEconomic and financial selection criteria
  • Technical selection criteriatenderTechnical selection criteria