Official UK procurement notice
High Temperature Superconducting Rotor with Rotating Cryostat
Authority: University of Bath (Education)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe University plans to procure the equipment listed below. Ahead of issuing a formal tender, we are seeking contact from suppliers who believe they may be able to submit a bid, as we are currently assessing what is available in the market.
Please contact LH295@bath.ac.uk if you believe you would be able to submit a bid for this requirement:
High Temperature Superconducting Rotor with Rotating Cryostat Specification
The University of Bath requires the design, manufacture, delivery, installation, and commissioning of a high temperature superconducting (HTS) rotor with an integrated rotating cryostat system. The HTS rotor with rotating cryostat shall include, as a minimum:
•HTS rotor magnets;
•Cryogenic rotating seal;
•Vacuum pumping interface;
•Slip rings;
•Rotating signal acquisition system.
The supplied HTS rotor with cryostat shall be compatible with the University’s existing electric machine stator, motor drive platform, Stirling SPC-1T cryogenerator and associated helium interfaces.
Technical Requirements
The HTS rotor shall utilise REBCO coils and shall be conduction cooled through helium gas circulation cooling. The operating temperature of the REBCO coils shall achieve 25 K or below. The helium gas circulation cooling system shall operate at pressures of 10 bar or higher. The air-gap magnetic field should achieve 0.8 T or higher. A cryogenic rotating seal shall be provided to connect the helium gas pipeline between the HTS rotor and the Stirling SPC-1T cryogenerator. The HTS rotor shall include temperature sensors, magnetic field sensors and voltage taps on the HTS coils. Rotor excitation shall be achieved through the current leads connected to the slip rings. A dedicated vacuum pumping interface shall be provided to connect the rotating vacuum chamber to an external stationary vacuum pump station. The cryostat shall incorporate high-vacuum insulation and multi-layer thermal insulation (MLI).
Compliance and Usability
The complete HTS rotor and rotating cryostat system shall comply with all applicable UK standards and regulations. Ease of operation for non-expert users is essential. Suppliers shall demonstrate the reliability, robustness, and user-friendliness of the proposed system. We will also consider the environmental impact of the equipment, thus power saving functions, and mechanisms to reduce on-going consumable costs, will be favoured.
Installation and Training
Installation should include all required parts and labour. We are aiming for a delivery as early as possible, so we desire short lead times. Comprehensive training should be provided for at least two members of facility staff after commissioning.
Warranty and Support
Reliable, efficient and prompt post-installation customer support is essential. We require a minimum 12-month fully-comprehensive post-commissioning warranty and a strong post-warranty service contract. Efficient aftersales engineer support is desired for the lifetime of the cryostat, as is remote support for the hardware via the internet.
CPV: Electric motors, generators and transformers · Engineering design services · Laboratory, optical and precision equipments (excl. glasses)
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedWhat it takes to wini
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published; the tender pack may add morei
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Published award criteria (2)
- Price
- Quality
- Price carries 40 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 4 points. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula.
Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How University of Bath buys Engineering design services (CPV 7132), and who usually turns up
University of Bath’s published record next to the market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are left out: they draw different bid counts. Whole-market view: Engineering design services (CPV 7132) →
How the contest usually goes
Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.
i
How often small and medium firms win.
Share of awards where the winner’s size is known.
The counts under this question show how many awards have a known supplier size.
Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.
i
How often local firms win similar work.
Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.
Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered. The market figure counts awards delivered in South West England.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered outside the region where that award was delivered.
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How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the bid deadline to the award date, on competitions that published both.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Half of these awards have an award date within 63 days of the bid deadline.
i
How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.
Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.
Both shares are minimums: some awards have no bid count.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
Missing bid counts may hide more single-bid awards. This share is a minimum.
How many bids did past lots attract?
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How many bids past lots received.
Each colour is a bid-count range. Only competed lots with a published count are included.
Past bids do not predict this tender.
1 bid6% / 10%
2–335% / 32%
4–618% / 20%
7+41% / 39%
How did awards compare with estimates?
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Where winning prices landed against estimates.
Each colour shows awards below, close to or above the published estimate, one lot at a time.
Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.
Below estimate27% / 60%
Within ±2%45% / 28%
Above estimate27% / 12%
Assess each lot i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list
Lot #1CPV 7132Published estimate£120k
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How many bids this lot may attract.
The forecast uses similar past competitions. The bar shows either that forecast or past bid counts; the line below says which.
Each lot shows its own forecast based on its own category; forecasts for different lots of the same notice are not comparative. The bar shows 102 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid12%
2–316%
4–625%
7+47%
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Where the award price may land.
The forecast uses similar awards and the buyer’s estimate. The band covers the middle half of likely prices.
No comparable awards for this lot yet.
A statistical guide from past awards, not a price to bid.
Who has supplied this buyer on similar work? i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
No earlier contract of this buyer matches this lot on the published record.
Who could compete for this lot? i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
Candidate suppliers for this notice have not been worked out yet, so this is not a verdict that nobody fits.
About this data
- Source. Official UK public procurement notices (Find a Tender), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. New notices arrive through the day; the figures are rebuilt nightly.
- Two views, kept apart. The authority’s own track record and the wider market for the same kind of work sit side by side and are never mixed. Where the local picture is too thin, a figure widens to a broader market and says which one it used.
- Forecasts are labelled. The price forecast and its range, possible competitors and the earlier-work matches are our estimates from past awards: not published facts, not win chances and not price advice. Official notices do not say who is bidding.
- Every figure shows what it rests on. Not every notice publishes a bid count, a value or a delivery region, so each figure carries the number of records behind it, and one built on few records is marked as such. The on a figure explains it; the counting rules are in the methodology. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Below threshold - open competition
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Goods
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- Procurement threshold
- Below threshold
- 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
- 29 May 2026, 12:24 BST
- Last source update
- 29 May 2026, 12:24 BST
- Authority reference
UoBath/Proc/1465- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-050799- Latest notice
- Planned procurement notice (UK3)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06a8c8Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 16 Jun 2026, 17:00 BST
- Clarification deadline
- 16 Jun 2026, 17:00 BST
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
lh295@bath.ac.uk for expressions of interest
Timeline
29 May 2026 → 1 Jul 2026 · 5 dates- Planning notice published151 days ago29 May 2026, 12:24 BST
- Tender notice expected133 days ago15 Jun 2026, 23:59 BST
- Clarification questions by133 days ago16 Jun 2026, 17:00 BST
- Submission deadline133 days ago16 Jun 2026, 17:00 BST
- Contract starts118 days ago1 Jul 2026, 00:00 BST
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Planned procurement notice published29 May 2026, 12:24 BSTUK3
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Pipeline notice- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
- Bidding documents and specifications Specification
Notices published for this procedure
- Planned procurement notice Planned procurement notice on Find a Tender