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NESO Interim Capability

NATIONAL ENERGY SYSTEM OPERATOR LIMITED

This public procurement record has 3 releases in its history.

Award

06 Oct 2026 at 17:12

UK7 - Contract Details Notice
Award

26 Aug 2026 at 18:18

UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Award

26 Aug 2026 at 18:04

UK5 - Transparency Notice
Summary of the contracting process

National Energy System Operator Limited (NESO) procured continued licensing and support for the Palantir Foundry platform used for its Connections and Skip Rates business processes. The requirement covers software licensing and related software and data services, supporting operational continuity for these critical processes while NESO undertakes a separate competitive procurement for a strategic modelling capability. The platform supports NESO’s customer-facing services and regulatory obligations. Services are delivered across the United Kingdom. This is an interim arrangement for maintaining and supporting the existing analytics environment, rather than the future replacement enterprise technology solution described in the procurement rationale.

The procurement is complete: Palantir Technologies UK Ltd was selected through a direct award, justified on technical grounds because it owns the proprietary platform and holds the specialist system knowledge needed to support it. The award was made on 25 August 2026. The signed contract began on 8 September 2026 and runs to 31 July 2027, with possible six-month extensions and a maximum end date of 31 July 2028. The award value is £17,700,270 excluding VAT (£21,240,324 including VAT); the signed contract value is £16,799,683 excluding VAT (£20,129,619 including VAT). There is one lot. The stated rationale was continuity while a competitive procurement is undertaken; no scored evaluation basis is recorded.

For suppliers hoping to compete for a future requirement from NESO, this award shows the importance of proven capability in supporting mission-critical energy-sector analytics and maintaining uninterrupted service. A credible competitor would need deep expertise in the relevant data platform and the operational Connections and Skip Rates processes, alongside the ability to meet regulatory obligations. NESO’s rationale identifies migration of complex legacy data, security accreditation, data quality and compliance as material challenges in moving to a new solution. Suppliers should therefore be able to demonstrate secure data migration, robust analytics and modelling, transparent decision support, and effective transition planning. The contract’s performance measures also point to the importance of platform availability, migration readiness, complete data export, documentation, knowledge transfer, security closure and controlled exit.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

NESO Interim Capability

Notice Description

National Energy System Operation (NESO), has awarded an interim capability agreement to Palantir Technologies UK Limited (Palantir) for continued licencing and support for Connections and Skip Rate related activities. A redacted copy of the signed contract will be made available within 90 days of signature.

Procurement Information

It was considered that the contract can be awarded directly in accordance Section 41 of the Procurement Act 2023 paragraph 6 (absence of competition for technical reasons) of Schedule 5. NESO currently runs two critical business processes - Connections and Skip Rates using the Palantir Foundry platform which is underpinned by proprietary architecture licensed exclusively by Palantir, Palantir possesses the specialist knowledge, technical expertise and the system knowledge required to maintain and support the solution effectively. Transitioning to an alternative supplier is not possible without significant cost, resource commitment and delivery risk to meet regulatory obligations. It would require the replacement of or significant redevelopment of the current data analytics environment, including migration of data, security accreditation of the replacement solution to the required standards, and training of NESO personnel. This contract has been put in place to enable continuity of the existing critical platform services whilst a competitive procurement is undertaken. A Pre-Market Engagement notice for the strategic modelling capability has been published. Disruption to the platform or associated services would impact the operational continuity of NESO's customer facing services and NESO's ability to fulfil regulatory requirements.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-06ed0c
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/094458-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK7 - Contract Details 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

48 - Software package and information systems

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

CPV Codes

48000000 - Software package and information systems

72260000 - Software-related services

72300000 - Data services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
£17,700,270 £10M-£100M
Contracts Value
£16,799,683 £10M-£100M

Notice Dates

Publication Date
6 Oct 20262 weeks ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
25 Aug 20262 months ago
Contract Period
8 Sep 2026 - 31 Jul 2027 6-12 months
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Complete
Awards Status
Active
Contracts Status
Active

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

PALANTIR TECHNOLOGIES UK, LTD.

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts.

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