The dynamic market framework – now live and open-ended – means more firms can still joinbut for now the initial preferred firms are in pole position to tap into one of the UK’s biggest upcoming pipelines of substation work.
Laing O’Rourke emerged as the big winner, securing places on all three workstreams covering EPC delivery, M&E installation and major civils.
A tight five-strong pack made the cut for the top-tier EPC substation construction lot – BAM Nuttall, Costain, Laing O’Rourke, Siemens Energy and Skanska. These firms will battle it out for turnkey schemes typically worth more than £20m on live 400kV sites.
The M&E installation section – focused on smaller upgrades and extensions – went to Kirby Group Engineering, Laing O’Rourke, Morson Projects, OCU Utility Services and Siemens Energy.
Nine firms landed spots on the major civils lot for packages above £5m. Alongside tier one players BAM Nuttall, Costain, Galliford Try, Laing O’Rourke and Skanska, the line-up includes Alpha Construction, Amalgamated Construction, Trant Engineering and Tudorborne.
The dynamic market was first flagged in February as part of National Grid’s push to streamline procurement and speed up delivery of critical infrastructure.
It will be used by group businesses including National Grid Electricity Transmission and National Grid Electricity Distribution, with contractors competing for call-off jobs as schemes come to market.
