United Kingdom-Belfast: Moyle Interconnector Control System Upgrade Project — Phase II

Type of document: Voluntary ex ante transparency notice
Country: United Kingdom
OJEU Ref: (2020/S 034-081836/EN)
Nature of contract: Supply contract
Procedure: Negotiated without a call for competition
Type of bid required: Not applicable

Voluntary ex ante transparency notice
Supplies

Section I: Contracting authority
I.1) Name and addresses
Official name: Moyle Interconnector Ltd(MIL)
National registration number: NI036562
Postal address: Mutual Energy Ltd, 85 Ormeau Road
Town: Belfast
Postal code: BT7 1SH
Country: United Kingdom
Contact Person: Ciara Brennan
Telephone: +44 2890437580
Email: ciara.brennan@mutual-energy.com
Internet address(es):
Main address:

I.6) Main activity
Electricity

Section II: Object
II.1) Scope of the procurement
II.1.1) Title: Moyle Interconnector Control System Upgrade Project — Phase II
II.1.2) Main CPV code: 31200000
II.1.3) Type of contract Supplies
II.1.4) Short Description:
MIL owns the Moyle Interconnector (MIC), a High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) electricity connection between Northern Ireland (NI) and Scotland. MIL now seeks to appoint Siemens Gas and Power GmbH & Co KG and Siemens Transmission and Distribution Ltd (hereafter ‘Siemens GPTD’) to upgrade various aspects of the control and protection system of MIC.
MIL is publishing this transparency notice to inform economic operators of its intention to enter into a contract with Siemens GPTD pursuant to Regulation 50(1)(e) and/or 50(1)(c) of the Utilities Contracts Regulations 2016. The employer’s requirements will be delivered over a period of approximately 34 months expected to begin in March 2020. It involves the replacement of the controls and protection at the MIC Converter Stations, which presently use Siemens group technology installed in 2001. The contract covers the detailed design, manufacture, factory testing, installation and commissioning of the upgraded control system and related items.
II.1.6) Information about lots
The contract is divided into lots: no
II.1.7) Total value of the procurement(excluding VAT)
Value:23000000.00
Currency:GBP
II.2) Description
II.2.2)Additional CPV code(s)
Main CPV code: 51112200

II.2.3) Place of performance
Nuts code: UKN, UKM Main site or place of performance:Ballycronan More, Islandmagee in Northern Ireland and Auchencrosh, Ayrshire in Scotland.

II.2.4) Description of the procurement
MIL owns the Moyle Interconnector (MIC), a High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) electricity interconnector between Northern Ireland (NI) and Scotland. Siemens plc (a subsidiary of Siemens AG) designed, constructed and commissioned the MIC using Siemens’ group proprietary technology, parts, infrastructure and components. Commissioned in 2001, the link provides 500 MW of interconnection capacity between the NI and GB electricity grids. The MIC is a critical infrastructure asset to wider NI society and also offers support to the GB grid when required. As such, MIL always seeks to maintain class-leading reliability and availability of the asset. MIC, in common with most HVDC links, is a bespoke solution, specific to its operating environment, and the services it is expected to deliver. MIL now seeks to appoint Siemens Gas and Power GmbH & Co KG and Siemens Transmission and Distribution Ltd (hereafter referred to as Siemens GPTD) to upgrade various aspects of the control and protection system of the MIC. This is the first time that the control system has been upgraded since the MIC was commissioned and represents a significant investment for MIL.
Siemens GPTD are subsidiaries of Siemens AG that have responsibility for developing, servicing, upgrading and installing HVDC systems in the United Kingdom, using Siemens’ group proprietary technology.
MIL is publishing this transparency notice to inform economic operators of its intention to enter into a contract with Siemens GPTD pursuant to Regulation 50(1)(e) and/or 50(1)(c) of the Utilities Contracts Regulations 2016. The employer’s requirements will be delivered over a period of approximately 34 months and is expected to begin in March 2020. It involves the replacement of the control and protection system at the MIC Converter Stations, which presently use Siemens group technology commissioned in 2001. The contract covers the detailed design, manufacture, factory testing, installation and commissioning of the upgraded control system and related items.
The upgraded control system will include replacements for;
— pole control,
— DC protection,
— station control,
— telecommunications,
— valve base electronics,
— transient fault recorders,
— HMI workstations.
The upgraded control system will deliver a highly robust cyber security design. It will also address the demands of the evolving ac networks in Scotland and Northern Ireland, including provision of reliable ancillary services to both grids.
Some of the related items included in the contract are: the delivery of training, provision of a replica installed at the National HVDC Centre, Cumbernauld, and the provision and delivery of spare parts.

II.2.5) Award criteria
II.2.11) Information about options
Options: no
II.2.13) Information about European Union funds
The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds: yes
Identification of the project:Moyle Interconnector was a beneficiary of money from European Regional Development Programme (ERDP) in c.2001.
II.2.14) Additional information:
The employer’s requirements will be delivered over approx. 34 months, according to the current programme. The contract is however for the design, manufacture, installation and commissioning of the upgraded control system and the programme may be extended for Siemens GPTD to complete the upgraded control system. It may therefore take longer than 34 months to deliver the employer’s requirements.

Section IV: Procedure
IV.1) Description
IV.1.1) Type of procedure
Negotiated procedure without prior call for competition(in accordance with Article 50 of Directive 2014/25/EU)
IV.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement(GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: no
IV.2) Administrative information

Section V: Award of contract/concession
V.2) Award of contract/concession
V.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract/concession award decision:2020-02-13
V.2.2) Information about tenders
V.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Official name: Siemens Gas and Power GmbH & Co KG
National registration number: HRA111200
Postal address: Werner von Siemens Straße 1
Town: Munich
Postal code: 80333
Country: Germany
Nuts code: DE
The contractor is an SME: no
Official name: Siemens Transmission and Distribution Ltd
National registration number: 00631825
Postal address: Faraday House, Sir William Square, Frimley
Town: Camberley, Surrey
Postal code: GU16 8QD
Country: United Kingdom
Nuts code: UK
The contractor is an SME: no

V.2.4) Information on value of the contract/lot/concession(excluding VAT)
for framework agreements – total maximum value for this lot
for contracts based on framework agreements, if required – value of contract(s) for this lot not included in
previous contract award notices

Section VI: Complementary information
VI.3) Additional information:
Payments under the contract will be made in both euro € and Sterling £. The contract value included in II.1.7) and V.2.4) is the total value of the contract in Sterling, after applying the appropriate exchange rate.
MIL believes that it is also entitled to follow the negotiated procedure without prior call for competition as the grounds in Regulation 50(1)(c)(ii) and 50(1)(c)(iii) of the Utilities Contracts Regulations 2016 are satisfied.
The supplies for Phase II can only be supplied by Siemens GPTD because competition is absent for technical reasons. This is due to the nature of the equipment making up the MIC, certain key elements of which are proprietary to Siemens e.g. the LTT and VBE. As explained in Part IV.1.1) above other manufacturers’ equipment would have different technical characteristics to the Siemens’ VBE (and other aspects of the control system) currently in use.
No other manufacturers’ equipment can switch and monitor the Siemens’ LTT valves and other manufacturers’ equipment would also not be compatible with the other items of existing equipment in the MIC due to the inherent integration requirements between each item of equipment making up the control system and the VBE. MIL does not believe that it is technically or commercially possible to use another manufacturer’s equipment to upgrade the control system. There is no genuine competition between manufacturers in relation to their ability to provide updated control systems for interconnectors using Siemens’ LTT.
In addition, only Siemens GPTD can perform the contract for Phase II, because the following components of the MIC, which are required to be interacted with, updated and interfaced with as part of the upgrade in Phase II, are protected by Siemens’ exclusive Intellectual Property rights:
1) Direct current controls;
2) Thyristor valves;
3) VBE;
4) Direct current protection; and
5) Measuring devices.
Access to the intellectual property contained in these components (including existing control algorithms) is essential in order to understand how these components work together, interface with each other and are able to be configured to interface with the new equipment provided as part of the upgrade in Phase II. Access to the Intellectual Property in these components is also required in order to properly configure the new equipment (so that it interfaces properly with the existing equipment), functions as intended and is commissioned and tested properly.
If another manufacturer were granted access to these intellectual property rights, that would infringe the intellectual property rights of Siemens.
MIL is satisfied that no other alternative or equivalent solutions exist. As explained above due to the unique nature of the existing equipment making up the MIC, and the need to properly interact with this, there is an inability of any other manufacturer to provide functionally comparable supplies. The only technically feasible solution is to have Siemens GPTD supply all the control and protection.
MIL is also satisfied that the absence of competition is not the result of artificially narrowing down the parameters of the procurement. The scope of the project reflects replacing those items of equipment that are either obsolete or soon to become obsolete. There is no imperative to change any of the other equipment in the MIC at this stage in its life, and to do so would be to incur unnecessary and disproportionately high capital expense. Due to the inherent integration requirements between each item of equipment making up the controls it only makes sense from a technical and commercial perspective for the complete scope of replacement of the control and protection system at the converter stations to be carried out by a single contractor. This scope represents the typical content of a project to upgrade an obsolescent control system and is appropriate to such a project.
VI.4) Procedures for review
VI.4.1) Review body
Official name: High Court of Northern Ireland
Town: Belfast
Country: United Kingdom

VI.4.3) Review procedure
Precise information on deadline(s) for review procedures:
The Utilities Contracts Regulations 2016 provides the relevant grounds for any parties who seek to bring an action against MIL. Any party who seeks to bring an action will be required to issue legal proceedings in the High Court of Northern Ireland.
MIL is incorporating a standstill period of 10 days, commencing the day after the publication of this notice, prior to entering into the Contract with Siemens GPTD.

VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice:
2020-02-14

Justification for the award of the contract without prior publication of a call for
competition in the Official Journal of the European Union