Small Modular Reactor Technology Partner

The Government is committed to a programme of new nuclear projects beyond Sizewell C, giving industry and investors the confidence they need to deliver projects at speed. Great British Energy - Nuclear (GBE-N) was launched as part of the government's Powering Up Britain plan.

The first priority for GBE-N was to launch a competitive process to select small modular reactor (SMR) Technology Partners, which was the subject of this Procurement. GBE-N sought to procure Technology Partners that will provide design, development, manufacturing, supply, installation and commissioning of various products, equipment or services related to the key plant required for SMR nuclear generation, including but not limited to reactor, steam generation, turbine, electrical generation, as well as the integrated design of these component parts.

The Technology Partner will be responsible for delivery to site of a designed and tested solution, a complete set of interface specifications, and installation and commissioning of the solution. GBE-N intends to establish a Project Development Company (Project Devco), which will provide developer capabilities.

The Technology Partner will be responsible for joint working with a Project Devco to connect and test interfacing equipment, complete integrated system testing and complete final commissioning and handover. Subject to affordability, GBE-N reserved the right to make up to four awards.

However, GBE-N reserved the right to award three, two or only one contract(s) to Technology Partner(s), or not to make any award at all. Upon conclusion of the procurement process GBE-N awarded one Technology Partner contract.

The decision in relation to how many Technology Partners were awarded contracts was taken having regard to the quality of tenders, as well as affordability and value for money considerations. GBE-N intends to award a two-stage contract for the Technology Partner for the provision of their Site Specific Design Solution, with the first stage being design and the second stage being the supply.

The second stage is conditional upon the exercise of an option by GBE-N. GBE-N reserves the right to exercise this option for manufacture and supply, installation and commissioning subject to satisfactory delivery against agreed milestones and achievement of Final Investment Decision (FID).

GBE-N will make available Site Specific Design Solution development costs. The Supply Phase i.e. the period from FID to Commercial Operation Date (COD) for a first of a kind (FOAK) project in the UK will include the manufacture, supply, installation and commissioning of the Supply Works on a value-for-money basis by the Technology Partner and provision of fuel assemblies and supporting maintenance services up to and including first refuelling outage.

GBE-N reserved the right to require Technology Partners to adopt specific supply solutions. GBE-N conducted a Competitive Procedure with Negotiation in accordance with Regulation 29 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015.

The Procurement process comprised three (3) stages: a) Invitation to Submit Initial Tender Stage b) Negotiation Stage; and c) Final Tender Stage GBE-N sought a Technology Partner that will design, integrate, manufacture, supply, install and commission facilities, products, equipment and services related to the key plant required for SMR nuclear generation. This includes but is not limited to the nuclear reactor, steam generation, turbine and electrical generation components. GBE-N's key objective in undertaking the Procurement is to select counterparties to the TP Contract that is best able to: a) deliver a reliable technical solution; b) meet the SMR Programme objectives; and c) facilitate speed of SMR execution and deliver FID within 5 years of the TP Contract starting date.