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ECP & OPDE Maintenance Support

NATIONAL ENERGY SYSTEM OPERATOR LIMITED

This public procurement record has 2 releases in its history.

Award

26 Aug 2026 at 17:21

UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Award

26 Aug 2026 at 17:09

UK5 - Transparency Notice
Summary of the contracting process

National Energy System Operator Limited (NESO) procured ongoing maintenance and application operation support for its European Energy Communication Platform (ECP) and Operational Planning Data Environment (OPDE). These business-critical applications support secure communication and the exchange of operational planning data between NESO, European transmission system operators and interconnectors under ENTSO-E requirements. The service covers application and technical support, incident and problem management, change and configuration management, deployment and release support, service requests, user support and related operational activities. This is a specialist software maintenance and repair service, delivered for NESO’s applications in the United Kingdom. The requirement concerns integrated support across the ECP and OPDE application environments rather than a general software helpdesk or standalone development service.

The procurement is complete and was awarded through a direct award to Unicorn Grid Systems a.s. on 26 August 2026. The award covers one lot and has a value of £1,318,515 excluding VAT, or £1,582,218 including VAT. The contract period runs from 8 September 2026 to 7 September 2031, with signature scheduled for 8 September 2026. NESO’s stated basis for the direct award is that Unicorn is the only viable supplier with the complete specialist technical expertise required, including support for ECP and all OPDE components. The supplier market is described as highly specialised and limited, with no reasonable alternative capable of delivering the full scope without significant technical and operational risk. The procurement falls under the utilities regime.

This award indicates a sustained requirement for suppliers able to operate and maintain business-critical energy-sector applications supporting cross-border transmission-system communications and operational data exchange. A credible competitor for a future requirement would need deep technical knowledge of the relevant ECP and OPDE environments, or comparable complex platforms, together with the ability to provide integrated application and infrastructure support. Required capabilities include incident and problem management, service requests, user support, change and configuration control, deployment and release management, and dependable operational support. Experience working within ENTSO-E governance arrangements and with transmission system operators or interconnectors would be particularly relevant. Suppliers would also need sufficient specialist capacity to cover the complete application landscape and demonstrate that changing provider would not introduce material service, integration or resilience risks.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

ECP & OPDE Maintenance Support

Notice Description

Provision of ongoing maintenance and application operation support services for NESO's European Energy Communication Platform (ECP) and Operational Planning Data Environment (OPDE) applications. These business-critical applications enable secure communication and the exchange of operational planning data between NESO, European Transmission System Operators (TSOs) and interconnectors in accordance with ENTSO-E requirements. The services include application and technical support, incident and problem management, change and configuration management, deployment and release support, service requests, user support and associated operational support activities.

Procurement Information

Unicorn is the only viable supplier capable of providing the complete requirement due to the specialist technical nature of the ECP and OPDE applications and the ENTSO-E governance arrangements. For ECP, Unicorn is the only capable supplier to provide the required maintenance and support. For OPDE, the supplier market is highly specialised and limited, with only Unicorn having the complete required technical expertise across the application components used by NESO. There are no reasonable alternative suppliers capable of providing the complete scope required by NESO, and a change of supplier would create significant technical and operational risk to these business-critical applications.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-06ed06
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/081522-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Direct
Procurement Method Details
Direct award
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
Large

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

72 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

CPV Codes

72267000 - Software maintenance and repair services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
£1,318,515 £1M-£10M
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
26 Aug 2026Today
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
26 Aug 2026Yesterday
Contract Period
8 Sep 2026 - 7 Sep 2031 Over 5 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Complete
Awards Status
Active
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
NATIONAL ENERGY SYSTEM OPERATOR LIMITED
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
WOKINGHAM
Postcode
RG41 5BN
Postcode Area
Reading
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLJ South East (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLJ1 Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLJ16 Berkshire West
Delivery Location
Not specified
Local Authority
Wokingham
Electoral Ward
Winnersh
Westminster Constituency
Wokingham

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

Unicorn Grid Systems a.s.

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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