Celtic Sea Floating Offshore Wind Leasing Round 5 - Project Development Area 2 - Direct Award

Scope, procedure and submissions

Id

ocds-h6vhtk-05e4de

Status

complete

Procurement Method

limited

Main Procurement Category

services

Procurement Method Details

Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition

Why this procedure was chosen

Important note: The contract which is the subject of this notice is being awarded by The Crown Estate by way of switching to a direct award following an unsuccessful tendering procedure, as explained further below. Please note that a transparency notice has also been published in respect of this direct award (notice identifier: 2025/S 000-075016; procurement identifier: ocds-h6vhtk-05e3e2). For the avoidance of doubt, the two notices relate to the same (i.e. single) direct award., which is being run in accordance with the PA 2023. The contract is to be awarded directly to a supplier that is not an excluded supplier by virtue of section 43 of the Procurement Act 2023 ("PA 2023"). The Crown Estate held a competitive tender process for the granting of new seabed rights to developers for the development of new floating offshore wind farms within three PDAs, which was advertised by way of a concession notice published on Find a Tender on 28 February 2024 (notice identifier: 2024/S 000-006434) (Celtic Sea Floating Offshore Wind Leasing Round 5 ("Round 5")). The Round 5 tender process was designed to result in the award of three separate agreements for lease to three different successful suppliers - one for each of the three PDAs. Two bidders remained at the final (auction) stage of the process and bid successfully for two of the PDAs. Under the rules of the Round 5 tender process no bidder could be awarded rights in respect of more than one PDA and no tender was received for the third PDA. The Crown Estate considers that for the purposes of section 43(2) of the PA 2023 no tenders were received for the agreement for lease for the third PDA. The Crown Estate considers that an award of the contract under section 19 of the PA 2023 is not possible in the circumstances. A delay to granting rights in respect of the third PDA while a further full competitive tender process is designed and run risks a number of potentially significant adverse effects on all three PDAs. Timely deployment of all three PDAs is needed to provide the certainty the supply chain, ports and other critical infrastructure need to plan and invest in floating wind in the UK. Without the full award of three PDAs, it is possible that the necessary investment in supply chain and ports may not be forthcoming (or may be delayed) resulting in possible delay to delivery. Any delays to the award of the third PDA could also delay skills development and the necessary investment in people required to support Round 5, causing delays in deployment of the programme. In addition, the experience and outcome of the Round 5 tender provide compelling evidence that the current challenging market conditions are such that a further, lengthy full tender process is unlikely to deliver a successful outcome for the third PDA.

Lots and requirements

Items and delivery

Buyer, suppliers and contacts

Award information

Contracts and changes

Recorded locations

• Buyer location · London · UK · SW1Y 4AH · United Kingdom
• Delivery location · UK