Official UK procurement notice
District Heating · UK public procurement notice
Authority: ASTON UNIVERSITY (Education)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionAston University intends to award a contract for the operation and management of its new Energy Centre, which will supply heat to the campus via the existing District Heating Network. The new Energy Centre is part of the University's decarbonisation strategy and is funded through Salix PSDS. The contract will replace the existing Energy Supply Agreement with Birmingham District Energy Company (BDEC), ensuring continuity of service and technical compatibility across the network. The new agreement will support Aston's goal to achieve net-zero carbon emissions for Scope 1 and 2 by 2028, two years ahead of its strategic target.
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1Awarded
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Direct award
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Notice status
- Awarded without competition
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Direct award (no call for competition)
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 15 Dec 2025, 14:21 GMT
- Last source update
- 15 Dec 2025, 14:21 GMT
- Authority reference
1193- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-082946- Latest notice
- Transparency notice (UK5)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-05f5d6Find a Tender
- Why no open competition
- Single Suppliers Intellectual Property Exclusive Rights; Single Suppliers Technical Reasons
- Published justification
Grounds for direct award under the Procurement Act 2023 are:
-Schedule 5: The following conditions are met in relation to the public contract- (a) due to a particular supplier having intellectual property rights or other exclusive rights, only that supplier can supply the goods, services or works required, and (b) there are no reasonable alternatives to those goods, services or works.
This is demonstrated by the current contract with BRING and the technical incompatibility of multiple suppliers operating on the same Heat Network at differing specifications.
-Schedule 7: The public contract concerns the supply of goods, services or works by the existing supplier which are intended as an extension to, or partial replacement of, existing goods, services or works in circumstances where- (a) a change in supplier would result in the contracting authority receiving goods, services or works that are different from, or incompatible with, the existing goods, services or works, and (b) the difference or incompatibility would result in disproportionate technical difficulties in operation or maintenance
This is demonstrated by technical incompatibility of operating two independent Energy Centre's operating at incompatible specifications on the same Heat Network.
Notice history
2 events · 1 release on Find a Tender · since 15 Dec 2025- Transparency notice published15 Dec 2025, 14:21 GMTUK5
- Contract signature expected31 Dec 2025, 23:59 GMTscheduled
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| BIRMINGHAM DISTRICT ENERGY COMPANY LIMITED1 Jan 2026 – 31 Dec 2051 | £37,500,000 | — | Standstill |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- BIRMINGHAM DISTRICT ENERGY COMPANY LIMITEDAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Transparency notice Transparency notice on Find a Tender