---
title: "ECP & OPDE Maintenance Support"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-06ed06"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-06ed06"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06ed06.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06ed06.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "NATIONAL ENERGY SYSTEM OPERATOR LIMITED"
published: "2026-08-26"
---

# ECP & OPDE Maintenance Support

Buyer: NATIONAL ENERGY SYSTEM OPERATOR LIMITED  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-06ed06

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## Summary

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.

## Notice

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.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/081522-2026 |
| 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 |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 26 Aug 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 26 Aug 2026 |
| Contract period | 8 Sep 2026 - 7 Sep 2031 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | £1,318,515 |
| Contracts value | Not specified |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Complete |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Not specified |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | NATIONAL ENERGY SYSTEM OPERATOR LIMITED |
| Locality | WOKINGHAM |
| Postcode area | Reading |
| Postcode | RG41 5BN |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLJ South East (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLJ1 Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire |
| ITL 3 | TLJ16 Berkshire West |
| Local authority | Wokingham |
| Electoral ward | Winnersh |
| Westminster constituency | Wokingham |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | Unicorn Grid Systems a.s. |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

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

### Codes

- 72267000 - Software maintenance and repair services

## Release History

- 26 Aug 2026 at 17:21 - Award - UK6 - Contract Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/081522-2026
- 26 Aug 2026 at 17:09 - Award - UK5 - Transparency Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/081516-2026

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/081522-2026
  26th August 2026 - Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/081516-2026
  26th August 2026 - Transparency notice on Find a Tender

## Notice URLs

- 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-06ed06. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06ed06.json.