28-32 Flexible Procurement and Supply of Gas and/or Electricity

The Contracting Authority will establish a single, closed Framework Agreement for the flexible procurement and supply of Gas and/or Electricity, as well as Net Zero Energy related Innovation Solutions, to public sector organisations across the United Kingdom.

Following comprehensive market engagement, the framework structure has been confirmed and will comprise three distinct lots. Please be advised that the estimated value of the Framework, and the individual Lots, represent a greater value than current spend, but account for potential growth in customer volumes and energy costs.

Lot 1: Flexible Procurement and Supply of Electricity with Additional Services (covering Metered and Unmetered Electricity)

Lot 2: Flexible Procurement and Supply of Natural Gas with Additional Services

Lot 3: Supply of Innovation Solutions relating to renewable energy and flexibility services

The framework will support flexible procurement strategies, and offer two service levels to Participating Authorities. A Procurement Only Service Option (POSO) and a Fully Managed (FM) Service. Additional services within scope include:

Metering and data services (Meter Operations, Data Collection & Aggregation, AMR provision)

Net zero and renewable energy solutions (including PPAs, REGO-backed supply, demand-side response)

Virtual PPA facilitation and access to intraday electricity markets

Small generation opportunities (Smart Export Guarantee, Feed-in Tariff)

Innovation solutions for renewable energy and flexibility services

The framework will provide Participating Authorities with access to competitive, flexible energy procurement that supports their net zero commitments and delivers best value.

Framework Operation: Suppliers will be evaluated and ranked independently for each lot based on their tender responses. For Lots 1 and 2, one Primary supplier and one or more Secondary Suppliers will be awarded positions (pending meeting of minimum requirements for those Lots) and all suppliers on Lot 3 who meet the minimum requirements of the tender will be awarded positions. Suppliers will be ranked as either Primary or Secondary suppliers based on their evaluation scores for Lots 1 and 2, with Primary Suppliers being offered first opportunity for any Awards Without Competition via the framework.

Call-off procedures: Participating Authorities may award call-off contracts through either:

Award Without Competition to the Primary Supplier (highest-scoring supplier per lot), who will be given first consideration for call-off contracts; or

Award Without Competition to a Secondary Supplier where the Participating Authority has specific requirements that cannot be met by the Primary Supplier, or where other valid reasons apply; or

Further-competition among all framework suppliers capable of meeting the specific requirements.

Pricing determination: Prices for call-off contracts will be determined through the suppliers' framework pricing submissions and the specific requirements of the Participating Authority (for direct awards) or through competitive tendering in mini-competitions.

Supplier performance and transfer mechanisms: The Contracting Authority reserves the right to facilitate the transfer of Participating Authorities to alternative framework suppliers in circumstances including but not limited to: material supplier underperformance, supplier failure, force majeure, or where a Participating Authority's needs can only be served by an alternative supplier. Secondary suppliers provide essential resilience and optionality throughout the framework term.

The Contracting Authority reserves the right to remove or suspend suppliers from the framework where performance issues are not addressed satisfactorily in accordance with the dispute resolution procedures.

There is no restriction on the number of Lots a single supplier may be awarded, enabling the appointment of a single primary supplier across multiple Lots where this represents best value and meets strategic requirements.