--- title: "Soft Market Testing Exercise. Deep Geothermal Drilling Contractors - Skills, Availability and Further Information" ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-052a52" canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-052a52" markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-052a52.md" json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-052a52.json" source: "Find A Tender Service" current_stage: "Planning" buyer: "NORTH EAST COMBINED AUTHORITY" published: "2025-06-02" --- # Soft Market Testing Exercise. Deep Geothermal Drilling Contractors - Skills, Availability and Further Information Buyer: NORTH EAST COMBINED AUTHORITY Current stage: Planning OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-052a52 [View canonical contract page](https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-052a52) [Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-052a52.json) ## Summary The North East Combined Authority, a mayoral combined authority representing seven local authorities in the North East of England, is in the planning stage of a public procurement process. They are conducting a soft market testing exercise focused on deep geothermal drilling contractors. This undertaking falls under the 'Drilling and exploration work' industry category, with the aim of assessing the potential for deep geothermal heat and power generation in the region. Businesses are invited to provide their input by 14th July 2025, assisting in the creation of a procurement process that is focused and efficient. The location for this procurement activity is within the North East, United Kingdom, and it is not currently above the set financial threshold. This market testing exercise offers significant opportunities for businesses with expertise in geothermal drilling and exploration. Companies with available skills, specialised equipment, and the capacity to provide competitive estimates and timelines will find this to be a promising opportunity for growth. The exercise allows businesses to voice their concerns and help shape the future specifications, ensuring they align with market realities. Both established contractors and emerging specialists in the renewable energy sector may find this an entry point to influence and gain potential future work in deep geothermal projects across the North East of England. ## Notice The North East Combined Authority (North East CA), a mayoral combined authority representing 7 local authorities in the North East of England, is currently undertaking various feasibility studies to understand the potential for deep geothermal heat and power generation in the North East of England and are keen to undertake a complementary soft market test to understand the appetite for such work by specialist contractors. To support this, we would like to gain information from the broader market regarding several issues related to the potential procurement exercise. You are therefore invited to complete the attached questionnaire. This notice is not an invitation for formal expressions of interest. North East CA is issuing this request for information only, to assess the reaction of the broader market and thus make any potential procurement process more focused and efficient. This process is being undertaken to gather knowledge in the following areas: - Appetite for such work - Skills availability - Minimum requirements to attract organisations to the area - Equipment availability - Estimation of cost & draft timelines The information gathered will be used to: - Inform decision making around the techno-economic feasibility study The benefits to your organisation in participating in this process include: - the chance to assess whether the opportunity will be suitable and of interest to you ensuring that specifications are realistic and market-focused - the chance to raise any risks, concerns or issues regarding the potential opportunity Your responses are highly valued and will assist us in creating a procurement process which is well-framed, focused, feasible and likely to be of interest to the market. ### Planning Information The North East Combined Authority (North East CA), a mayoral combined authority representing 7 local authorities in the North East of England, is currently undertaking various feasibility studies to understand the potential for deep geothermal heat and power generation in the North East of England and are keen to undertake a complementary soft market test to understand the appetite for such work by specialist contractors. To support this, we would like to gain information from the broader market regarding several issues related to the potential procurement exercise. You are therefore invited to complete the attached questionnaire. This notice is not an invitation for formal expressions of interest. North East CA is issuing this request for information only, to assess the reaction of the broader market and thus make any potential procurement process more focused and efficient. This process is being undertaken to gather knowledge in the following areas: - Appetite for such work - Skills availability - Minimum requirements to attract organisations to the area - Equipment availability - Estimation of cost & draft timelines The information gathered will be used to: - Inform decision making around the techno-economic feasibility study The benefits to your organisation in participating in this process include: - the chance to assess whether the opportunity will be suitable and of interest to you ensuring that specifications are realistic and market-focused - the chance to raise any risks, concerns or issues regarding the potential opportunity Your responses are highly valued and will assist us in creating a procurement process which is well-framed, focused, feasible and likely to be of interest to the market. There is no commercial advantage or disadvantage to your organisation as a result of being involved in this market testing exercise. This process focuses on the market as a whole, rather than on the merits of individual suppliers. It involves no element of supplier selection or bid evaluation. Finally, please be assured that any commercially-sensitive information provided to us as part of this process will be treated in confidence, used only for the purposes of this market testing exercise, and will not be disclosed to any other organisation, subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act. The Combined Authority may disclose with other Public Sector Contracting Authorities any of the information/documentation (including any that is considered to be confidential and/or commercially sensitive). The information will not be disclosed outside of the public sector. Subject to the Combined Authority's requirement to comply with the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act / Environmental Information Regulations, any commercially-sensitive information provided to us as part of this process will be treated in confidence, used only for the purposes of this market testing exercise, and will not be disclosed to any other organisation. The Soft Market Testing Exercise Documentation is available by emailing Procurement@northeast-ca.gov.uk ## Key Details | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication source | Find A Tender Service | | Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/029028-2025 | | Notice type | UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice | | Procurement type | Standard | | Procurement category | Works | | Procurement method | Not Specified | | Procurement method details | Not specified | | Tender suitability | Not specified | | Awardee scale | Not specified | | All stages | Planning | ## Dates | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication date | 2 Jun 2025 | | Submission deadline | Not specified | | Future notice date | 14 Jul 2025 | | Award date | Not specified | | Contract period | 2 Jun 2025 - 14 Jul 2025 | | Recurrence | Not specified | ## Values | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender value | Not specified | | Lots value | Not specified | | Awards value | Not specified | | Contracts value | Not specified | ## Status | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender status | Planning | | Lots status | Planning | | Awards status | Not specified | | Contracts status | Not specified | ## Buyer | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Main buyer | NORTH EAST COMBINED AUTHORITY | | Locality | NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE | | Post town | Newcastle upon Tyne | | Postcode | NE4 5BZ | | Country | England | | ITL 1 | TLC North East (England) | | ITL 2 | TLC4 Northumberland, Durham and Tyne & Wear | | ITL 3 | TLC43 Tyneside | | Local authority | Newcastle upon Tyne | | Electoral ward | Arthur's Hill | | Westminster constituency | Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West | | Delivery location | TLC North East (England) | ## CPV Codes ### Divisions - 45 - Construction work ### Codes - 45255500 - Drilling and exploration work ## Release History - 2 Jun 2025 at 09:24 - Planning - UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/029028-2025 ## Documents - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/029028-2025 2nd June 2025 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender ## Notice URLs - http://www.northeast-ca.gov.uk - https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents ## Provenance This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-052a52. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-052a52.json.