Find a Tender
complete
Official procurement procedure
NQEH - UKPN Contestable and Non-Contestable Works
No classification published
Location not published
Published value
Not published
Submission deadline Not published
Lots published1
Procurement Executive Summary
AI & Search Synopsis
Generated from official OCDS record
Tenderline Synopsis: The Queen Elizabeth Hospital King's Lynn NHS Foundation Trust: "NQEH - UKPN Contestable and Non-Contestable Works". Published status: complete. Published value: Value not published. 1 published lot. Submission deadline not published. See the official notice for participation instructions.
| Contracting Authority | The Queen Elizabeth Hospital King's Lynn NHS Foundation Trust | Scope & Categories | Not published | Submission Window | complete No deadline published |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Submission Gateway | Direct notice route | Legal Basis & Regime | Standard procurement | Estimated Value (exc. VAT) | Not published |
Bidder Intelligence · Authority Profile: The Queen Elizabeth Hospital King's Lynn NHS Foundation Trust
Market Analytics
Derived from OCDS awards & bid statistics
Published history for The Queen Elizabeth Hospital King's Lynn NHS Foundation Trust. These figures describe retained records, not a forecast of bids or a measure of buyer bias.
Average Price Reduction
Not availableInsufficient comparable data
Competition Density
Not availableNo published reports
Supplier ConcentrationNo estimate
Insufficient attributable awardsNo concentration estimate availablePayment Terms
Check noticePublished terms
Coverage: 31 active published awards; 0 bid reports (which may be per lot). Supplier values exclude multi-supplier awards, frameworks and DPS, and use GBP only. They are published award values, not payments. Price reduction compares single-lot, single-award, single-supplier GBP procedures with explicitly non-framework/non-DPS status; increases remain in the average. Unpublished data stays unknown. Awarded suppliers are winners, not all bidders.
Procedure terms
Contracting AuthorityThe Queen Elizabeth Hospital King's Lynn NHS Foundation Trust | Procedure methodNot published | Procurement categoryNot published |
Statuscomplete | Framework / DPSNot published | CompetitionNot published |
Above thresholdNot published | Legal basisNot published | Tender period startsNot published |
Clarification deadlineNot published | Electronic submissionNot published | Submission languagesNot published |
Published18 May 2026, 15:23 BST | Last source update18 May 2026, 15:23 BST | Recurring procurementNot published |
ClassificationNot published | ||
Delivery areaLocation not published | ||
OCIDocds-h6vhtk-069037 | ||
What is being bought
The Works will enable the provision of an import capacity of 25,000 kVA via two Grid Supply Points.
Installation of 33kV cables for approximately 8.5km route length and installation of a 33/11kV metering substation comprises of 2 x 11kV incomer circuit breakers, 1 x 11kV bus section circuit breakers and 4 x 11kV metering circuit breakers.
UK Power Networks will install 1 x Grid transformer at King’s Lynn Grid an associated circuit breaker to connect the transformer.
UK Power Networks will manage 132kV and 33kV outage and substation lease.
UK Power Networks will carry out 33kV final closing joints
UK Power Networks carries out all the Contestable and Non-Contestable Works.
CONTESTABLE WORK
EHV Plant and Switchgear
• Primary Substation installation
• 11kV 6 x panel board installation including material and plant.
• 2 x 33/11kV transformer installation including material and plant.
EHV Underground Main
• 33kV duct
What changed
From the official release history
- Official notice release published
18 May 2026, 15:23 BST - Official notice release published
1 May 2026, 12:40 BST - Status changed to complete
1 May 2026, 12:33 BST - Official notice release published
1 May 2026, 12:33 BST - Buyer information updated
1 May 2026, 12:33 BST
Lots and requirements (1)
Published by the contracting authority
- Lot 1 · #1Individual lot title not publishedcompletePublished valueNot publishedThe source published no individual title or description for this lot.Contract periodNot publishedEligibilityNot publishedOptions / renewalNot published
Timeline
- Procedure published
18 May 2026, 15:23 BST - Award active
Not published · Not published - Contract active
Signed 18 May 2026, 00:00 BST · £16,474,549
Commercial outcome and competition
Awards UK POWER NETWORKS SERVICES (COMMERCIAL) LTD Not published · Not published · active |
Contracts NQEH - UKPN Contestable and Non-Contestable Works £16,474,549 · signed 18 May 2026, 00:00 BST · active Contract period: 18 May 2026, 00:00 BST — 30 Jun 2031, 23:59 BST |
Bid statisticsNo aggregate bid statistics published |
Buyer and organisations in this procedure
The Queen Elizabeth Hospital King's Lynn NHS Foundation Trust
Contracting authority GB-PPON-PQCT-9574-RQTZDocuments (1)
Official links; attachments are not copied
Related procedures (0)
No related procedures published
Planning and rationale
Planning budgetNot published |
No-engagement rationaleNot published |
Procedure rationaleThe Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn NHS Foundation Trust is progressing enabling electrical infrastructure works to facilitate delivery of a new, fully electric acute hospital serving the King’s Lynn and West Norfolk community. These works are essential to ensure continuity of healthcare services and the safe replacement of an existing hospital estate significantly affected by reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).
The scope comprises the delivery of a new 25MVA electrical connection derived from two diverse 33kV supplies, including reinforcement of the local electricity distribution network, installation of new high‑voltage equipment within live grid substations, and approximately 10km of 33kV cabling routed through constrained urban corridors, including interfaces with Network Rail infrastructure and traffic‑sensitive highways.
UK Power Networks (UKPN) is the licensed Distribution Network Operator (DNO) for the region and the statutory undertaker responsible for the ownership, operation, and adoption of the electricity distribution network. While certain elements of electricity connection works are theoretically contestable, the Trust has concluded that, for this specific scope, a direct award is justified.
The Trust is relying on Schedule 5, paragraph 6 of the Procurement Act 2023, on the basis that, due to the technical characteristics, scale, safety requirements and asset adoption obligations associated with the 33kV works, effective competition is absent for technical reasons and no reasonable alternative delivery approach exists.
In reaching this position, the Trust sought independent technical advice from Mott MacDonald (December 2025) to assess the scale, complexity, delivery risks and feasibility of alternative delivery models for the 33kV works.
The Trust position is supported by Mott MacDonald's advice, which assessed both a split‑delivery model involving an Independent Connection Provider (ICP) and a single‑provider model delivered entirely by the DNO. That advice identified that the scale, voltage level, integration requirements and interface complexity of a 33kV installation of this nature make it challenging to identify alternative providers capable of delivering the full scope safely, compliantly, and within programme constraints.
Key considerations which have been taken into account by the Trust include:
1) The works require live interventions within existing operational UKPN grid substations and must comply with UKPN’s statutory design, installation, testing and commissioning standards prior to adoption.
2) Any split delivery between an ICP and the DNO would introduce additional design approvals, witnessing, interface risk, and potential disputes at asset handover, with UKPN retaining ultimate responsibility for network safety and future operation.
3) The cable routes traverse constrained environments, including Network Rail interfaces, listed‑building adjacencies, and traffic‑sensitive highways subject to Section 58 of the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 (restrictions on works following substantial road works), where UKPN’s statutory undertaker rights and local network knowledge materially reduce delivery and permitting risk.
4) The enabling works sit on the critical path to energisation of the new hospital. Independent advice confirms the presence of long‑lead items with lead times of up to 12–24 months, meaning delayed commitment or undertaking a procurement exercise would pose a real risk to timely delivery of key infrastructure for a much needed healthcare facility.
The electrical infrastructure is required not only to serve the completed hospital but also to enable a transitional period in which the existing hospital remains operational until decant, at a time when its current electrical capacity is already close to exhaustion and no further local reinforcement is available without significant network works.
In making its decision, the Trust has had regard to the objectives set out in S.12 of the Procurement Act 2023. A competitive procurement of part or all of the works would not be expected to deliver effective competition or value for money once duplication of design, approvals, supervision, testing and programme risk is taken into account, and would expose the Trust to a materially increased risk of delay to a nationally important healthcare project with direct patient and public safety implications.
The Trust has taken these known risks and associated management arrangements into account when determining the appropriate procurement approach. Direct award to the licensed Distribution Network Operator enables these risks to be managed within a single, integrated delivery model, with clear asset adoption accountability and statutory network responsibilities. The Trust recognises that, should one or more of the known risks identified in the Contract Details section materialise, changes to scope, sequencing or value may be required, and this notice is intended to provide transparency in respect of those foreseeable circumstances.
The Trust has therefore concluded that direct award of the enabling works to UKPN represents a proportionate, justified and lawful approach under the Procurement Act 2023, consistent with the public interest, the need to maintain continuity of NHS services, and the imperative to replace a RAAC‑affected hospital estate within a fixed and non‑extendable timeframe. |