Official UK procurement notice
Heat Supply Agreement relating to South East London Combined Heat and Power District Heating Network
Authority: Southwark Council (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionSouthwark Council (Council) and Veolia ES Southwark Limited (Veolia) entered into a PFI Project Agreement (Project Agreement) on 11 February 2008 for integrated waste management services for an initial term of [25] years . The procurement of the Project Agreement was conducted under the Public Services Contracts Regulations 1993 with a total value of 665,000,000.00 GBP.
In 2013, the Council entered into a separate heat supply agreement (HSA1) with Veolia for heat supply services by means of a district heating network (Heat Network) to take waste heat from South East London Combined Heat and Power (SELCHP) to certain Council premises. The services in HSA1 were not included in the Project Agreement. HSA1 was entered into pursuant to the exemption set out in Regulation 14(1)(d)(i) of the (now repealed) Public Contracts Regulations 2006. This exemption allowed the Council to directly procure Veolia for the provision of heat supply services not included in the Project Agreement, which had subsequently become necessary due to unforeseen reasons. The HSA1 was entered into on 14 June 2013 and a related contract award notice was published on 3rd August 2013 (OJEU Reference Number: 2013/S 150-261592 ). The original term of the HSA1 as awarded was coterminous with the Project Agreement (i.e. expiring on 10 February 2033 .
HSA1 is due to expire on 10 February 2033.
The Council is now proposing to make the following modifications to the HSA1 via a Deed of Variation:
- an extension to the geographical coverage and extent of the Heat Network so that it [includes/covers [insert details]some areas within the wards of Old Kent Road, Nunhead & Queen's Road, Peckham, Rye Lane and St Giles (Geographical Coverage Modification); and
- an extension to the duration of the contract so that instead of expiring on 10 February 2033 it will expire on 31 March 2050 (Duration Modification).
Further information regarding the Geographical Coverage Modification can be found in a map (Figure 1 on page 5) within the Council's published governance document to be found on the Council's website here:
moderngov.southwark.gov.uk/documents/s130163/Re… ↗ GW3 SELCHP Heat NetworkPhase2Extension.pdf
The Council considers that it is entitled to rely upon Regulation 88(1)(b) of the Utilities Contracts Regulations 2016 (UCR) to modify the HSA1 to incorporate the Geographical Coverage Modification and Duration Modification without requiring a new procurement procedure for the reasons set out in Annex D2.
The Council will not enter into the Deed of Variation until the expiry of at least 30 days from the publication of this notice.
CPV: Architectural and related services · Building consultancy services · Building services consultancy services · Building surveying services · Building-fabric consultancy services · Building-inspection services · Construction management services · Development consultancy services · District heating · Energy and related services · General construction work for pipelines · Heat-transfer station construction work · +4 more
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1District Heating extension of SELCHP facility as set out in this notice
District Heating extension of SELCHP facility as set out in this notice.
Southwark Council (Council) and Veolia ES Southwark Limited (Veolia) entered into a PFI Project Agreement (Project Agreement) on 11 February 2008 for integrated waste management services for an initial term of [25] years . The procurement of the Project Agreement was conducted under the Public Services Contracts Regulations 1993 with a total value of 665,000,000.00 GBP.
In 2013, the Council entered into a separate heat supply agreement (HSA1) with Veolia for heat supply services by means of a district heating network (Heat Network) to take waste heat from South East London Combined Heat and Power (SELCHP) to certain Council premises. The services in HSA1 were not included in the Project Agreement. HSA1 was entered into pursuant to the exemption set out in Regulation 14(1)(d)(i) of the (now repealed) Public Contracts Regulations 2006. This exemption allowed the Council to directly procure Veolia for the provision of heat supply services not included in the Project Agreement, which had subsequently become necessary due to unforeseen reasons. The HSA1 was entered into on 14 June 2013 and a related contract award notice was published on 3rd August 2013 (OJEU Reference Number: 2013/S 150-261592 ). The original term of the HSA1 as awarded was coterminous with the Project Agreement (i.e. expiring on 10 February 2033 .
HSA1 is due to expire on 10 February 2033.
The Council is now proposing to make the following modifications to the HSA1 via a Deed of Variation:
- an extension to the geographical coverage and extent of the Heat Network so that it [includes/covers [insert details]some areas within the wards of Old Kent Road, Nunhead & Queen's Road, Peckham, Rye Lane and St Giles (Geographical Coverage Modification); and
- an extension to the duration of the contract so that instead of expiring on 10 February 2033 it will expire on 31 March 2050 (Duration Modification).
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record · publisher note attached- Procedure method
- Negotiated without publication of a contract notice
- Legal basis
- CELEX · 32014L0025 Utilities Contracts Regulations 2016 (Directive 2014/25/EU)
- Procurement category
- Goods
- Notice status
- Awarded
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 15 Jan 2026, 09:59 GMT
- Last source update
- 15 Jan 2026, 09:59 GMT
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-003345- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06064eFind a Tender
- Why no open competition
The works, supplies or services can be provided only by a particular economic operator due to absence of competition for technical reasons
- Published justification
The Council's position is that the proposed modifications to the HSA1 are permitted modifications under Regulation 88(1)(b) of the UCR 2016 on the basis that there is a need for additional works, services or supplies by Veolia, irrespective of value, which have become necessary despite not being included in the initial procurement where a change of contractor (i) cannot be made for economic or technical reasons; and (ii) would cause significant inconvenience or substantial duplication of costs for the Council.
The Council considers that the works/services related to the Geographical Coverage Modification are necessary in order to achieve a significant reduction in the local combustion of natural gas via the use of low carbon waste heat from SELCHP in order to meet its environmental obligations and commitments with regard to air quality and becoming carbon neutral by 2030.
The Duration Modification is also necessary because a 25-year operational period is required in order for a contractor to amortise its capital costs of building the extension to the Heat Network. The Council also understands that private connections to the extended Heat Network will only sign up to heat supply agreements that are for a period of 20 years or longer. HSA1 is due to expire on 10 February 2033 and does not allow for an appropriate amortization period.
The Council has concluded that a change of contractor cannot be made for economic or technical reasons because Veolia owns and operates SELCHP and therefore controls the supply of low carbon waste heat. It is the Council's view that no other supplier can supply enough low carbon heat to the Council at an equal or similar price to serve the required network extension, especially at the temperatures required. Furthermore, it would not be economically viable to use another supplier as they would have to buy the low carbon heat from Veolia to then sell to the Council. The Council considers that Veolia would not sell the low carbon heat to a third party at the same competitive rate as currently supplied to the Council as there is no commercial incentive to do so.
The Council also considers that a change of contractor would cause major inconvenience and substantial duplication of costs if it was required to procure a third-party operator to operate and maintain the extension to the Heat Network for the extended duration.
Additionally, if a contractor other than Veolia is appointed to operate and maintain the extension to the Heat Network this would mean that different contractors would be operating different parts of the same network, which would be technically and economically unviable in having duplicate control systems, water quality testing and other risk/contract interface implications.
For the reasons set out in this notice the Council considers that it is necessary for the additional works/services to be awarded to Veolia for economic or technical reasons and that it would cause significant inconvenience or substantial duplication of costs for the Council to award the required works/services to another contractor.
- Review procedure
In accordance with Regulation 103 to Regulation 119 of the UCR 2016 (particularly, Regulations 107, 108, 109 and 114 in relation to deadlines).
Publisher note: The values set out in Section 11.1.7 and V.2.4 (£267.9m) comprise the sum of the original value of HSA1 (£47.1m), the value of previously agreed modifications (£6.5m), and the estimated value of the intended Geographical Coverage Modification and the Duration Modification (£214.3m). Voluntary ex-ante transparency notice published in OJEU / TED 27628-2026
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Veolia ES Southwark Limited | £267,900,000 † | — | Awarded |
Contracts
Contract 003345-2026-1 · Veolia ES Southwark Limited
- Signed
- 13 Jun 2013
- Value
- £267,900,000
- Status
- active
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Dispute resolution & review bodies
- The High Court of JusticeReview body
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- Veolia ES Southwark LimitedAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications
Official links; attachments are not copiedNo document links were published on the notice.