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Electricity Supplier

Lancaster City Council

This public procurement record has 2 releases in its history.

Award

06 Oct 2026 at 16:10

UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Award

29 Sep 2026 at 14:48

UK5 - Transparency Notice
Summary of the contracting process

Lancaster City Council is procuring an integrated electricity supply and energy-management arrangement for its corporate estate. The supplier must provide electricity to Council sites, handle exports from Council-owned renewable energy assets and match electricity imports with generation under the P442 arrangements. The service also covers optimising that matching with other eligible import and export volumes when Council generation and consumption do not coincide, and transparently identifying and allocating the resulting benefits. The arrangement is intended to be capable of extending to eligible domestic and commercial customers through a Community Power Club, with a licensed supplier responsible for their electricity supply. The work is for the Council’s estate and eligible customers in Lancaster City Council’s area.

The procurement is complete and Octopus Energy Limited was selected through a direct award. The Council’s stated reason was that its market engagement found no other supplier able to deliver the requirements as one integrated end-to-end service, and that there were no reasonable alternatives for technical reasons. The award value is £3.4 million excluding VAT (£4.08 million including VAT). The award was made on 29 September 2026. The contract period runs from 1 April 2027 to 31 March 2029. The procurement comprised one lot. The recorded evaluation basis is the technical absence of competition described in the direct-award rationale; no separate scored award criteria are set out.

For suppliers assessing comparable future work from Lancaster City Council, this award shows demand for a single provider able to combine electricity supply with renewable-generation export and portfolio matching, rather than supplying electricity alone. A credible competitor would need to manage Council import and generation portfolios under P442, optimise matching with additional eligible volumes, and provide clear accounting and allocation of matching benefits. The scope also favours a supplier able to support expansion to eligible household and business customers through a Community Power Club, including delivery by a licensed electricity supplier. The Council selected Octopus Energy on the stated basis that no alternative provider could deliver the integrated arrangement for technical reasons, so demonstrating the ability to deliver the full end-to-end service would be central to competing for this requirement again.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

Electricity Supplier

Notice Description

The Council requires an integrated electricity arrangement incorporating: 1. supply of electricity to the Council's corporate estate; 2. export of electricity generated from Council-owned renewable energy assets; 3. P442 matching between the Council's import and generation portfolios; 4. optimisation of matching using additional eligible import and export volumes where Council generation and consumption do not coincide; 5. transparent identification and allocation of the resulting matching benefits; and 6. the capability to extend the arrangement to eligible domestic and commercial customers through a Community Power Club, with supply to those customers undertaken by a licensed electricity supplier.

Procurement Information

Market Engagement undertaken by officers has not identified another supplier capable of delivering these requirements as a single integrated end to end arrangement. This satisfies the requirements of Schedule 5, paragraph 6 of the Procurement Act 2023, namely that due to an absence of competition for technical reasons only a particular supplier can supply the services required and that there are no reasonable alternatives.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-077cac
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/094413-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

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

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

09 - Petroleum products, fuel, electricity and other sources of energy

65 - Public utilities

71 - Architectural, construction, engineering and inspection services

CPV Codes

09310000 - Electricity

65300000 - Electricity distribution and related services

65310000 - Electricity distribution

65400000 - Other sources of energy supplies and distribution

71314200 - Energy-management services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
£3,400,000 £1M-£10M
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
6 Oct 2026Today
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
6 Oct 2026Yesterday
Contract Period
1 Apr 2027 - 31 Mar 2029 2-3 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

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

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
Lancaster City Council
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
LANCASTER
Postcode
LA1 1PJ
Postcode Area
Lancaster
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLD North West (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLD4 Lancashire
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLD44 Lancaster and Wyre
Delivery Location
Not specified
Local Authority
Lancaster
Electoral Ward
Castle
Westminster Constituency
Lancaster and Wyre

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

Octopus Energy Limited

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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