Scope
Description
Procurement:
The Royal Borough of Greenwich (the "Authority") is conducting a procurement to appoint an Energy Services Company ("ESCO") to deliver heating and cooling services via a newly constructed energy centre ("Energy Centre") located within Woolwich Leisure Centre, SE19 ("Leisure Centre"). The Authority intends to award a concession contract to the successful supplier (the "Contract").
The ESCO will assume full commercial responsibility for the provision of the relevant services to all connected customers. This will include maintenance and repair obligations of the Energy Centre, capital replacement, metering, billing, customer services, and management of customer supply agreements.
At this stage, the Authority expects that the successful supplier will be required to:
• operate and maintain the Energy Centre and a distribution network up to consumer terminals from Autumn 2026 for a period of 25 years;
• supply heating to the Leisure Centre and the adjacent Tramshed building;
• adopt infrastructure and supply heating to an adjacent residential development comprising circa 500 flats and circa 1,000 sqm. of non-residential space, as it becomes operational. The residential development is expected to become operational between 2027-2031);
• supply cooling to the Leisure Centre; and
• manage all customer-facing services including metering, billing, and customer support.
In addition, the ESCO may be required to supply electricity to the Leisure Centre and integral café, with billing to the respective operators.
The ESCO will bear all operational risk in relation to the Energy Centre and will be responsible for capital investment, service delivery, and customer management throughout the duration of the Contract.
At this stage, the list of requirements above is indicative only and contains the broad categorisation of requirements rather than particulars. Suppliers should assume that the requirements actually required will be broadly within the scope of the requirements listed above but this may also include extensions to related or ancillary services. The actual scope of the requirements may be narrower than that set out above.
Further details of the Authority's requirements are set out in the Request to Participate.
Additional Information
The estimated value set out in this notice is an estimate only and is in no way guaranteed or final. For the purposes of this notice, the total contract value is expressed as being inclusive of VAT. However, suppliers will need to determine for themselves what rates of VAT apply to the concession services to be supplied under the Contract. The associated tender documents for this opportunity contain more specific information. The dates referred to in this notice are also estimates only.
The Authority may refine the award criteria set out below at any stage of the procurement process in accordance with Section 24 of the Procurement Act 2023.
The Authority held a market engagement event on 23 June 2025 pursuant to Section 16 of the Procurement Act 2023. The event was carried out in order to discuss the Authority's aims and strategy for the procurement, the proposed heating and metering strategy as well as the background to the project with interested organisations. Participation in the market engagement event is not a requirement for future progress in the procurement.
The Authority is using the Proactis Rego platform to carry out this procurement. To obtain further information, please record your interest on Proactis Rego at: https://supplierlive.proactisp2p.com/Account/Login. Procurement Reference: RBG/P/1000088.
Total value (estimated)
- £28,000,000 excluding VAT
- £33,600,000 including VAT
Above the relevant threshold
Contract dates (estimated)
- 4 January 2027 to 3 January 2052
- 25 years
Main procurement category
Services
CPV classifications
- 09323000 - District heating
- 65400000 - Other sources of energy supplies and distribution
- 71314000 - Energy and related services
Contract locations
- UKI51 - Bexley and Greenwich
Submission
Enquiry deadline
26 February 2026, 12:00pm
Submission type
Requests to participate
Deadline for requests to participate
11 March 2026, 12:00pm
Submission address and any special instructions
The Authority is using the Proactis Rego platform to carry out this procurement. To obtain further information, please record your interest on Proactis Rego at: https://supplierlive.proactisp2p.com/Account/Login.
The project reference will be RBG/P/1000088. Please use this to find the opportunity once signing up.
Tenders may be submitted electronically
Yes
Languages that may be used for submission
English
Award decision date (estimated)
1 November 2026
Award criteria
| Name | Type | Weighting |
|---|---|---|
| Proposed Heat Tariff / Capital Contribution | Price | 40% |
| Enhancement / Deviation from Proposed Commercial and Legal Terms - Commentary | Quality | 20% |
| ESCO Capability | Quality | 10% |
| Customer Service Capabilities (Including Response Times) | Quality | 10% |
| Operation and Maintenance Capabilities | Quality | 10% |
| Social Value | Quality | 10% |
Other information
Applicable trade agreements
- Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
Conflicts assessment prepared/revised
Yes
Procedure
Procedure type
Competitive flexible procedure
Special regime
- Concession
- Utilities
Competitive flexible procedure description
This Tender Notice is for the award of a concession contract (the "Contract") using the competitive flexible procedure in accordance with section 20 of the Procurement Act 2023.
The procurement process leading to the award of the Contract will comprise four stages: (1) Procurement Specific Questionnaire ("PSQ"); (2) Invitation to Submit Outline Proposals ("ISOS"); (3) Invitation to Negotiate ("ITN") and negotiation between the Authority and the suppliers; and (4) Invitation to Submit Final Tenders ("ISFT").
Stage 1: Procurement Specific Questionnaire
Under Stage 1, all interested organisations will be required to complete a PSQ. The PSQ is available to download via the Portal at: https://supplierlive.proactisp2p.com/Account/Login. Interested organisations are required to submit their completed PSQs via the Portal by no later than 11 March 2026, 12:00pm.
The Authority will invite a maximum of five suppliers (i.e. the five highest scoring suppliers identified at Stage 1) to submit outline solutions. The award criteria that will be applied to identify the highest scoring suppliers at Stage 1 is set out in the Request to Participate. The outcome of Stage 1 will be communicated to each supplier that has submitted a compliant PSQ response.
Stage 2: Invitation to Submit Outline Proposals
Under Stage 2, the Authority will issue an ISOS to the shortlisted suppliers. The ISOS will invite the shortlisted suppliers to submit outline solutions to the Authority by completing questions set out within the ISOS.
Once the deadline to submit outline solutions has passed, the Authority will evaluate and provide interim feedback on suppliers' responses to the ISOS.
Full details relating to this stage of the procurement will be set out in the ISOS which will be issued to the shortlisted suppliers following the conclusion of Stage 1.
Stage 3: Invitation to Negotiate
Under Stage 3, the Authority will issue an ITN to the shortlisted suppliers. The ITN will invite the shortlisted suppliers to attend negotiation sessions with the Authority and articulate how the negotiation sessions will be conducted. The purpose of the negotiation sessions is to help suppliers refine their proposals before they are invited to submit a further interim proposal.
Following the conclusion of the negotiation sessions, the Authority will invite the suppliers to submit a refined solution. The Authority will then evaluate suppliers' refined solutions, provide feedback to the shortlisted suppliers and invite a maximum of three suppliers (i.e. the three highest scoring suppliers identified at Stage 3) to proceed to the final stage of the procurement unless, for example: (a) there are equal scoring suppliers, in which case the Authority may invite more than three suppliers; or (b) fewer than three refined solutions are received, in which case the Authority may invite fewer than three suppliers. The award criteria that will be applied to identify the highest scoring suppliers at Stage 3 is summarised in the Award Criteria Table set out above.
Full details relating to this stage of the procurement will be communicated to the shortlisted suppliers following the conclusion of Stage 2.
Stage 4: Invitation to Submit Final Tenders
Under Stage 4, the Authority will issue an ISFT to the shortlisted suppliers. The ISFT will invite the shortlisted suppliers to submit their final tenders for evaluation.
Once the deadline to submit final tenders has passed, the Authority will evaluate suppliers' final tenders in accordance with the pre-disclosed award criteria and evaluation methodology set out in the ISFT in order to identify the most advantageous tender that will be awarded the Contract.
Full details relating to this stage of the procurement will be communicated to the shortlisted suppliers following the conclusion of Stage 3.
The Authority may refine the award criteria set out above at any stage of the procurement process (i.e. at Stage 1, 2, 3 or 4) in accordance with Section 24 of the Procurement Act 2023.
Contracting authority
Royal Borough of Greenwich
- Public Procurement Organisation Number: PXBB-6689-HZVL
The Woolwich Centre, 35 Wellington Street
London
SE18 6HQ
United Kingdom
Region: UKI51 - Bexley and Greenwich
Organisation type: Public authority - sub-central government