Scope
Reference
UY PROC 1195
Description
The University of York ("the Authority") has launched an exciting deep geothermal energy project as a transformative step in its journey to Net Zero. The project aims to cut our fossil fuel consumption by 78% as part of our Sustainability Plan 2030 targets and making a substantial contribution to reducing the City of York's overall carbon footprint.
This multi-phased initiative will leverage the Earth's natural heat to provide sustainable energy solutions for our campus and potentially the wider community. The project positions the University of York, City and region as a leader in sustainable energy innovation, combining geothermal exploration with our renowned research and educational expertise.
Further details regarding the project can be found on the university website here https: //www.york.ac.uk/about/sustainability/campus-operations/climate-action/geothermal-energy/
The Authority is seeking to appoint a contractor to deliver a deep geothermal doublet system consisting of a production well of more than 4km, and an injector well of more than 3km, with the aim of extracting geothermal heat to supply the Authority's campus district heat network, thereby removing the need for CHP units in an effort to meet the university's net zero goals. This phase of the project was awarded funding from the government's Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme in April 2025.
The successful contractor shall be required to fully deliver the project, which shall involve the drilling and all associated activities. The Authority is therefore wishing to engage with participants who can deliver a complete 'turn key' project on their own, or as a joint or consortia bid headed by a lead contractor.
A preliminary market engagement (PME) process was advertised and market engagement conducted. The PME resulted in the production of a strategy to procure the drilling contractor, an understanding of the market conditions, and the preferred form of contract to be used.
The project shall be delivered by the Authority and York University Energy Supply Company (YUESCo) which is the Authority's wholly owned subsidiary company responsible for the Authority's on-campus energy production and distribution. Participants should note that orders shall be placed by YUESCo on behalf of the Authority.
The Authority has sufficient funding in place to deliver the project, and is actively seeking additional funding (both internal and external) to potentially deliver a subsequent production well for research or other use. For clarity, the estimated total value stated in this notice is an estimate of maximum value covered by secured grant funds to deliver the initial two well project and ancillary projects (circ £20,000,000 exVAT), and also an estimated value to deliver a subsequent third well should the Authority secure additional funds (circ £15,000,000 exVAT).
Total value (estimated)
- £35,000,000 excluding VAT
- £42,000,000 including VAT
Above the relevant threshold
Contract dates (estimated)
- 18 February 2026 to 31 December 2027
- Possible extension to 31 December 2028
- 2 years, 10 months, 11 days
Description of possible extension:
The University requires drilling activity for the production and injector wells to be completed by the 31st December 2027. The University is actively seeking additional funding to drill an additional production well for research or other purposes and wishes to have a contractual option available to extend the agreement with the successful contractor on mutual agreement to drill an additional production well (estimated additional 12 month period through to 31st December 2028).
Options
The right to additional purchases while the contract is valid.
The University is actively seeking additional funding to drill an additional production well for research or other purposes and wishes to have a contractual option available to extend the agreement with the successful Contractor to drill an additional production well.
Main procurement category
Works
CPV classifications
- 24951110 - Drilling mud
- 34514300 - Platforms drilling rigs
- 43132200 - Drilling rig
- 43132300 - Drills
- 43136000 - Downhole equipment
- 43611000 - Parts for well-drilling machinery
- 45000000 - Construction work
- 71320000 - Engineering design services
- 71331000 - Drilling-mud engineering services
- 71332000 - Geotechnical engineering services
- 71351000 - Geological, geophysical and other scientific prospecting services
- 73100000 - Research and experimental development services
- 76211200 - Mudlogging services
- 76300000 - Drilling services
- 76410000 - Well-casing and tubing services
- 76420000 - Well-cementing services
- 76430000 - Well-drilling and production services
- 76440000 - Well-logging services
- 76450000 - Well-management services
- 76460000 - Well-support services
- 76470000 - Well-testing services
- 76480000 - Tubing services
- 76490000 - Well-completion services
- 76500000 - Onshore and offshore services
Contract locations
- UKE21 - York
Participation
Legal and financial capacity conditions of participation
Please refer to the requirements set out in the procurement documents
Technical ability conditions of participation
Please refer to the requirements set out in the procurement documents
Submission
Enquiry deadline
17 October 2025, 12:00pm
Submission type
Requests to participate
Deadline for requests to participate
24 October 2025, 12:00pm
Submission address and any special instructions
Via the In-Tend procurement portal at: https://in-tendhost.co.uk/york/aspx/Home
Tenders may be submitted electronically
Yes
Languages that may be used for submission
English
Suppliers to be invited to tender
1 to 5 suppliers
Selection criteria:
The criteria to be used to select participants are provided within the procurement documents. The Authority wishes to select a maximum of five (5) participants to carry forward to tender. The Authority shall only carry forward less than five participants where the market conditions and/or the conditions of participation result in fewer participants being selected.
Award decision date (estimated)
4 February 2026
Award criteria
| Name | Description | Type | Weighting |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commercial (Cost) | The commercial criteria details against which Participants will be scored together is found within the published procurement documents. Cost shall make up 40% of the overall tender score. |
Cost | 40% |
| Design Development | Criteria description and question requirements is detailed within the procurement documents. |
Quality | 6% |
| Methodology for Undertaking the Works | Criteria description and question requirements is detailed within the procurement documents. |
Quality | 6% |
| Final Tender Development (Design and Build) | Criteria description and question requirements is detailed within the procurement documents. |
Quality | 6% |
| Participant's Contract Position | Criteria description and question requirements is detailed within the procurement documents. |
Quality | 6% |
| Proposed Delivery Team Structure | Criteria description and question requirements is detailed within the procurement documents. |
Quality | 3% |
| Lead Times and Early Ordering | Criteria description and question requirements is detailed within the procurement documents. |
Quality | 3% |
| Programme | Criteria description and question requirements is detailed within the procurement documents. |
Quality | 3% |
| Stakeholder Management | Criteria description and question requirements is detailed within the procurement documents. |
Quality | 1.8% |
| Risk Identification and Mitigation | Criteria description and question requirements is detailed within the procurement documents. |
Quality | 1.8% |
| Research Support | Criteria description and question requirements is detailed within the procurement documents. |
Quality | 1.8% |
| Managing Down Time | Criteria description and question requirements is detailed within the procurement documents. |
Quality | 1.8% |
| Testing | Criteria description and question requirements is detailed within the procurement documents. |
Quality | 1.8% |
| Site Security and Safety | Criteria description and question requirements is detailed within the procurement documents. |
Quality | 1.8% |
| Well Design Appraisal | Criteria description and question requirements is detailed within the procurement documents. |
Quality | 1.8% |
| Targeting Support | Criteria description and question requirements is detailed within the procurement documents. |
Quality | 1.8% |
| Reactiveness | Criteria description and question requirements is detailed within the procurement documents. |
Quality | 1.8% |
| Legacy | Criteria description and question requirements is detailed within the procurement documents. |
Quality | 1.8% |
| CDM | Criteria description and question requirements is detailed within the procurement documents. |
Quality | 1.8% |
| Extended Rig Use Proposal | Criteria description and question requirements is detailed within the procurement documents. |
Quality | 1.8% |
| Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Values | Criteria description and question requirements is detailed within the procurement documents. |
Quality | 1.8% |
| UK Geothermal Legislation & Permitting | Criteria description and question requirements is detailed within the procurement documents. |
Quality | 1.2% |
| Relationship Management | Criteria description and question requirements is detailed within the procurement documents. |
Quality | 1.2% |
| Supporting Education | Criteria description and question requirements is detailed within the procurement documents. |
Quality | 1.2% |
Other information
Description of risks to contract performance
The Authority has identified the following known risks which may have unforeseen impacts on the project necessitating a need to amend its approach and make modifications to its contract and/or its approach to the market to ensure the project is successfully delivered to budget and programme under paragraph 5 of Schedule 8 of the Procurement Act 2023. The main known risks are listed below in no order of potential importance or impact:
Geopolitical or other events in the marketplace beyond the reasonable control of the Authority which cause severe impact with regard to securing the materials, personnel or equipment needed to deliver the project.
Changes in law or other legal impacts which hinder the contractor's ability to obtain materials, personnel or equipment from outside of the United Kingdom.
The known risk of hazardous substances, geological conditions, structural issues and changes in ground conditions arising from drilling operations being discovered at the site could increase costs or lead to a delay in the programme that could potentially require a variation or addition to the works and/or services to satisfactorily perform the contract. The severity and impact of such factors may not be known until after the commencement of the contract, the completion of surveys or the works are underway.
Applicable trade agreements
- Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
Conflicts assessment prepared/revised
Yes
Procedure
Procedure type
Competitive flexible procedure
Competitive flexible procedure description
The Authority's Competitive Flexible procedure has been designed to follow the below procurement stages:
STAGE 1 - Procurement Specific Questionnaire: participants must submit a completed Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ) with their request to participate. The PSQ (Schedule 7 of the tender pack) is available to download from the In-Tend procurement portal. Where a Participant is a consortium, all members of the consortium must complete a PSQ. The part of the PSQ concerning conditions of participation only requires completion by the lead member of the consortium.
STAGE 1 - Completeness Check: the first step will be a completeness check. A complete submission is one which has been received by the deadline for submission, is substantially complete and complies substantially with the requirements of the Invitation to Tender (ITT). Clarification and further information may be sought from participants in order to determine if a submission is complete. The Authority may exclude at this stage any submission that is not complete and may reject any tender submission which is submitted late.
STAGE 1 - Exclusion of Excluded and Excludable Suppliers: the Authority will exclude any supplier that is an Excluded Supplier or an Excludable Supplier based on its response to the PSQ. The Authority will identify Excludable Suppliers based on the discretionary exclusion grounds identified in Schedule 1, paragraph 4 of the ITT. Participants must also upload core supplier information to the Central Digital Platform and confirm to the Authority that they have done so.
STAGE 1 - Application of Conditions of Participation: the Authority will check that each submission satisfies the conditions of participation set out in the ITT on the basis of the PSQ returned by the Participant. Clarification and further information may be sought from Participants. The Authority may exclude at this stage any submission that does not satisfy the conditions of participation set out in Schedule 1, paragraph 5 of the ITT. Participants must also upload core supplier information to the Central Digital Platform and confirm to the Authority that they have done so.
STAGE 1 - Evaluation of the Conditions of Participation Questions: the third step of stage 1 will be to evaluate those submissions other than those rejected as not compliant, or not meeting the conditions of participation, in order to determine a maximum of five (5) participants to be carried forward to Stage 2, using the criteria detailed in Schedule 1, clause 6 of the ITT.
STAGE 2 - Contract Markup Submission: the participants who are selected at stage 1 shall be invited to submit a markup of the contract documents.
STAGE 2 - Feedback and Negotiation: the Authority shall review the contract markups received from participants and provide feedback followed by a meeting between the Authority and the participants to negotiate contract terms. Stage 2 shall be the only negotiation stage and is limited to the contract terms only.
STAGE 3 - Invitation to Submit Final Tender: the Authority shall close negotiations and invite the five participants to submit a final tender. The final tender shall be fully compliant and shall contain a response to Schedule 6 the Pricing Schedule of the ITT, Schedule 8 the Technical Questionnaire of the ITT, and shall be evaluated using the criteria detailed in Schedule 1, clause 6 of the ITT.
STAGE 3 - Evaluation and Selection of Most Advantageous Tender: This step will be to evaluate those submissions other than those rejected as not compliant, in order to determine the most advantageous tender, using the criteria detailed in Schedule 1,clause 6 of the ITT. The Participant with the highest tender score shall be carried forward to Stage 4, and all other tenders eliminated.
STAGE 3 - Tender Clarifications: as part of the Stage 3 evaluation it may be necessary to invite participants to present their tenders to the Authority and its project team for the purpose of clarification and confirmation. The presentations shall not be scored but will be used to clarify and confirm the tender submission. The scores awarded to participants may be adjusted in consideration of the presentation and clarification questions asked by the evaluation panel and shall determine the most advantageous tender, which shall be the winning tender.
STAGE 4 - Pre Construction Services Agreement (PCSA): the winning tender shall enter into a PCSA with the Authority to complete full design leading to the delivery of the well drilling contract.
Documents
Associated tender documents
https://in-tendhost.co.uk/york/aspx/Home
The procurement documents making up the invitation to tender are available to download from the In-Tend procurement portal at: https://in-tendhost.co.uk/york/aspx/Home
Documents to be provided after the tender notice
Should additional supplementary information be issued to bidders in response to any tender clarification questions or during the negotiation stage they shall be uploaded to the In-Tend procurement portal at: https://in-tendhost.co.uk/york/aspx/Home
Contracting authority
University of York
- UK Register of Learning Providers (UKPRN number): 10007167
- Public Procurement Organisation Number: PRDQ-5539-WTHX
Heslington
York
YO10 5DD
United Kingdom
Region: UKE21 - York
Organisation type: Public authority - sub-central government