UK Research & Innovation: UKRI-2128 - Evaluation of UK Battery Infrastructure to Support Rapid Scale up of Battery Material and Cell Technologies

UK-Swindon: Evaluation consultancy services.

Section I: Contracting Authority

   I.1) Name, Addresses and Contact Point(s):
       UK Research and Innovation
       Polaris House, North Star Avenue, Swindon, SN2 1FL, United Kingdom
       Tel. +44 1793867000, Email: corporateprocurement@ukri.org
       Main Address: www.ukri.org
       NUTS Code: UKK14

   I.2) Joint procurement:
      The contract involves joint procurement: No          
      In the case of joint procurement involving different countries, state applicable national procurement law: Not Provided
      The contract is awarded by a central purchasing body: No

   I.4)Type of the contracting authority:
      Body governed by public law

   I.5) Main activity:
      Other activity: Research and Innovation

Section II: Object Of The Contract

   II.1) Scope of the procurement

      II.1.1) Title: UKRI-2128 - Evaluation of UK Battery Infrastructure to Support Rapid Scale up of Battery Material and Cell Technologies            
      Reference number: UKRI-2128

      II.1.2) Main CPV code:
         79419000 - Evaluation consultancy services.


      II.1.3) Type of contract: SERVICES

      II.1.4) Short description: The UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Faraday Battery Challenge (FBC) is a Government initiative that is enabling the decarbonisation of the UK’s transport sector whilst ensuring that the UK prospers from this transition. Established in 2017, the FBC has been designed to create an effective research, innovation and scale-up ecosystem that can deploy advancements in battery technology and secure a battery manufacturing base in the UK. This is being delivered through its three pillars: the Faraday Institution (FI), Innovate UK and the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC).

The budget for this requirement is up to between £150,000 and £200,000 ex VAT, The duration of the contract is four months and the final study is required by December.

      II.1.6) Information about lots
         This contract is divided into lots: No
            
      II.1.7) Total value of the procurement (excluding VAT)
          Value: 175,263
                  
         Currency:GBP            

   II.2) Description

      II.2.2) Additional CPV code(s):
      Not Provided

      II.2.3) Place of performance
      Nuts code:
      UKK14 - Swindon
   
      Main site or place of performance:
      Swindon
             

      II.2.4) Description of the procurement: The UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Faraday Battery Challenge (FBC) is a Government initiative that is enabling the decarbonisation of the UK’s transport sector whilst ensuring that the UK prospers from this transition. Established in 2017, the FBC has been designed to create an effective research, innovation and scale-up ecosystem that can deploy advancements in battery technology and secure a battery manufacturing base in the UK. This is being delivered through its three pillars: the Faraday Institution (FI), Innovate UK and the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC).

This evaluation will assess the existing UK battery infrastructure available to UK PLC in the development of battery materials and cells, including academic institutions, private organisations offering contract services and open-access facilities. The existing available infrastructure will be assessed against current and likely future candidates for research/commercialisation in both battery materials and cell technologies to assess where there are gaps in support for companies progressing from lab  pre-pilot  pilot  gigascale. The technologies to be assed have already been defined by an earlier study.

Different scenarios will be developed for a government funded open-access facility which addresses materials scale up, cell-level scale up, and/or both to meet the gaps identified, and maximise cost benefit to the UK.

The different scenarios will be evaluated to understand likely workflows for different technologies over a 5-15 year time horizon to understand how such facilities could be used and to further evaluate the cost-benefit of building infrastructure to support certain technologies at certain scales. As a secondary point, use by organisations outside of the UK and the global importance of such a facility in attracting foreign direct investment into the UK should be considered.

The outputs of this report may be used as guidance for the formation of the scope and evaluation of bids on infrastructure to be built as part of the next phase of the Faraday Battery Challenge.

The main aims of the tender exercise are to produce a report to:

•Identify if there is a gap in UK scale up support that could be serviced by a battery, materials and/or cell scale up facility
•Clearly define any gap in terms of technology, scale, equipment and facility requirements, in addition to type and quantity of work predicted over a 5-15 year timescale
•Determine whether single or multiple facilities would be best placed to fill this gap through a series of scenarios


•Understand the cost-risk profile of supporting scale up of specific technologies
•Understand the limitations and challenges of building such a facility
•Understand if a facility that meets the needs of the UK could be of international importance, potentially attract foreign direct investment into the UK, and de-risk investments into supporting specific technologies

      II.2.5) Award criteria:
      Quality criterion - Name: Quality / Weighting: 90
                  
      Cost criterion - Name: Price / Weighting: 10
            

      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: No
         

      II.2.14) Additional information: To respond to this opportunity please click here: https://ukri.delta-esourcing.com/respond/5TRBR2H646


Section IV: Procedure

IV.1) Description

   IV.1.1)Type of procedure: Open


   IV.1.3) Information about a framework agreement or a dynamic purchasing system
      The procurement involves the establishment of a framework agreement: No       
      

   IV.1.6) Information about electronic auction
      An electronic auction has been used: No

   IV.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
      The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: Yes

IV.2) Administrative information

   IV.2.1) Previous publication concerning this procedure
       Notice number in the OJEU: 2022/S 000-016249
      
   

   IV.2.9) Information about termination of call for competition in the form of a prior information notice
      The contracting authority will not award any further contracts based on the above prior information notice: No

Section V: Award of contract

Award Of Contract (No.1)

   Contract No: Not Provided    
   Lot Number: Not Provided    
   Title: Not Provided

   A contract/lot is awarded: Yes


   V.2) Award of contract

      V.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract: 25/08/2022

      V.2.2) Information about tenders
         Number of tenders received: 3
         Number of tenders received from SMEs: Not Provided          
         Number of tenders received from tenderers from other EU Member States: Not Provided          
         Number of tenders received from tenderers from non-EU Member States: Not Provided          
         Number of tenders received by electronic means: Not Provided

      V.2.3) Name and address of the contractor

      The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators: No
         
         Contractor (No.1)
             E4tech (UK) Ltd, 04142898
             2nd Floor, Exchequer Court, 33 St Mary Axe, London, United Kingdom
             NUTS Code: UKI
            The contractor is an SME: No

      V.2.4) Information on value of the contract/lot (excluding VAT)
         Initial estimated total value of the contract/lot: 200,000          
         Total value of the contract/lot: 175,263
         Currency: GBP

      V.2.5) Information about subcontracting
         The contract is likely to be subcontracted: No
         
Section VI: Complementary information

   VI.3) Additional information: Procurement Contract Transparency Data: Redacted contract documents will be made available within the next 30 days on the UKRI website at: https://www.ukri.org/about-us/procurement-contract-transparency-data/
To view this notice, please click here:
https://ukri.delta-esourcing.com/delta/viewNotice.html?noticeId=717602164

   VI.4) Procedures for review

      VI.4.1) Review body
          UK Research and Innovation
          Polaris House, North Star Avenue, Swindon, SN2 1FL, United Kingdom

      VI.4.3) Review procedure
         Precise information on deadline(s) for review procedures: Not Provided

      VI.4.4) Service from which information about the review procedure may be obtained
         Not Provided

   VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice: 31/08/2022