Hysbysiad tryloywder gwirfoddol ymlaen llaw
Adran I:
Awdurdod
contractio
I.1) Enw a chyfeiriad
Moyle Interconnector Ltd(MIL)
NI036562
Mutual Energy Ltd, 85 Ormeau Road
Belfast
BT7 1SH
UK
Person cyswllt: Ciara Brennan
Ffôn: +44 2890437580
E-bost: ciara.brennan@mutual-energy.com
NUTS: UKN06
Cyfeiriad(au) rhyngrwyd
Prif gyfeiriad: http://www.mutual-energy.com/
I.6) Prif weithgaredd
Trydan
Adran II: Gwrthrych
II.1) Cwmpas y caffaeliad
II.1.1) Teitl
Moyle Interconnector Control System Upgrade Project — Phase II
II.1.2) Prif god CPV
31200000
II.1.3) Y math o gontract
Cyflenwadau
II.1.4) Disgrifiad byr
MIL owns the Moyle Interconnector (MIC), a High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) electricity connection between Northern Ireland (NI) and Scotland. MIL now seeks to appoint Siemens Gas and Power GmbH & Co KG and Siemens Transmission and Distribution Ltd (hereafter ‘Siemens GPTD’) to upgrade various aspects of the control and protection system of MIC.
MIL is publishing this transparency notice to inform economic operators of its intention to enter into a contract with Siemens GPTD pursuant to Regulation 50(1)(e) and/or 50(1)(c) of the Utilities Contracts Regulations 2016. The employer's requirements will be delivered over a period of approximately 34 months expected to begin in March 2020. It involves the replacement of the controls and protection at the MIC Converter Stations, which presently use Siemens group technology installed in 2001. The contract covers the detailed design, manufacture, factory testing, installation and commissioning of the upgraded control system and related items.
II.1.6) Gwybodaeth am lotiau
Mae’r contract hwn wedi’i rannu’n lotiau:
Na
II.1.7) Cyfanswm gwerth y caffaeliad
Gwerth heb gynnwys TAW: 23 000 000.00 GBP
II.2) Disgrifiad
II.2.2) Cod(au) CPV ychwanegol
51112200
II.2.3) Man cyflawni
Cod NUTS:
UKN
UKM
Prif safle neu fan cyflawni:
Ballycronan More, Islandmagee in Northern Ireland and Auchencrosh, Ayrshire in Scotland.
II.2.4) Disgrifiad o’r caffaeliad
MIL owns the Moyle Interconnector (MIC), a High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) electricity interconnector between Northern Ireland (NI) and Scotland. Siemens plc (a subsidiary of Siemens AG) designed, constructed and commissioned the MIC using Siemens’ group proprietary technology, parts, infrastructure and components. Commissioned in 2001, the link provides 500 MW of interconnection capacity between the NI and GB electricity grids. The MIC is a critical infrastructure asset to wider NI society and also offers support to the GB grid when required. As such, MIL always seeks to maintain class-leading reliability and availability of the asset. MIC, in common with most HVDC links, is a bespoke solution, specific to its operating environment, and the services it is expected to deliver. MIL now seeks to appoint Siemens Gas and Power GmbH & Co KG and Siemens Transmission and Distribution Ltd (hereafter referred to as Siemens GPTD) to upgrade various aspects of the control and protection system of the MIC. This is the first time that the control system has been upgraded since the MIC was commissioned and represents a significant investment for MIL.
Siemens GPTD are subsidiaries of Siemens AG that have responsibility for developing, servicing, upgrading and installing HVDC systems in the United Kingdom, using Siemens’ group proprietary technology.
MIL is publishing this transparency notice to inform economic operators of its intention to enter into a contract with Siemens GPTD pursuant to Regulation 50(1)(e) and/or 50(1)(c) of the Utilities Contracts Regulations 2016. The employer’s requirements will be delivered over a period of approximately 34 months and is expected to begin in March 2020. It involves the replacement of the control and protection system at the MIC Converter Stations, which presently use Siemens group technology commissioned in 2001. The contract covers the detailed design, manufacture, factory testing, installation and commissioning of the upgraded control system and related items.
The upgraded control system will include replacements for;
— pole control,
— DC protection,
— station control,
— telecommunications,
— valve base electronics,
— transient fault recorders,
— HMI workstations.
The upgraded control system will deliver a highly robust cyber security design. It will also address the demands of the evolving ac networks in Scotland and Northern Ireland, including provision of reliable ancillary services to both grids.
Some of the related items included in the contract are: the delivery of training, provision of a replica installed at the National HVDC Centre, Cumbernauld, and the provision and delivery of spare parts.
II.2.11) Gwybodaeth am opsiynau
Opsiynau:
Na
II.2.13) Gwybodaeth am Gronfeydd yr Undeb Ewropeaidd
Mae'r broses gaffael yn gysylltiedig â phrosiect a/neu raglen a ariennir gan gronfeydd yr Undeb Ewropeaidd:
Ydy
II.2.14) Gwybodaeth ychwanegol
The employer's requirements will be delivered over approx. 34 months, according to the current programme. The contract is however for the design, manufacture, installation and commissioning of the upgraded control system and the programme may be extended for Siemens GPTD to complete the upgraded control system. It may therefore take longer than 34 months to deliver the employer's requirements.
Section IV: Gweithdrefn
IV.1) Disgrifiad
IV.1.1) Y math o weithdrefn
Y weithdrefn a negodwyd heb gais am gystadleuaeth ymlaen llaw
Cyfiawnhau'r weithdrefn ddyfarnu a ddewiswyd:
Cyflenwadau ychwanegol gan y cyflenwr gwreiddiol a archebwyd o dan yr amodau llym a nodir yn y gyfarwyddeb
Esboniad:
The replacement of the control and protection systems at the converter stations, linked to the MIC, constitute the partial replacement of the supplies making up the MIC installation. A group company of Siemens AG originally supplied the components for the MIC and designed, constructed and commissioned it. Siemens GPTD are the successor suppliers currently providing HVDC electricity systems using Siemens’ group proprietary technology. This contract constitutes additional deliveries (of the components necessary) for the replacement of the control and protection systems at the Convertor Stations (which constitutes the partial replacement of components that make up the MIC) by the original supplier.
Key elements of the equipment forming part of the MIC are proprietary to Siemens;
— the thyristors, which carry primary electrical power, and convert it from alternating current to direct current and vice versa,
— the valve base electronics (VBE, part of the control system), which interfaces with the thyristors, sending commands to them, and monitoring their performance,
— the remaining control system elements, which use complex algorithms to determine how to deliver the required power flow, and then signal the VBE. This includes both industrial PLC type computers, and human machine interface computers.
In the case of MIC, a Light Triggered Thyristor (LTT) design is used; this is the Intellectual Property (IP) of Siemens. This differs from other suppliers, who use an electrically triggered thyristor (ETT) design. The VBE used in MIC is also Siemens IP, as it must integrate with its LTT solution; the protocol for signalling between VBE and the thyristors is also unique to Siemens, differing from the protocols that other manufacturers use with their VBE/ETT solutions. Therefore, other manufacturers’ equipment has different technical characteristics, which means it would not be compatible with the existing LTTs (at this stage the LTTs have a substantial remaining useful life and there is no need to replace them).
Any attempt to try to make another manufacturer's control system equipment work with the existing Siemens equipment making up the MIC will be fraught with difficulty and involve novel and complex technical challenges. Any other manufacturer would need to ‘reverse engineer’ the Siemens IP around Siemens’ VBE / LTT combination, before implementing this in their own VBE. It is highly unlikely that this would work; the time and effort involved is likely to be uneconomic and the technical challenge would be very significant.
While MIL does not believe that it is technically or commercially feasible to use another manufacturer’s equipment to upgrade the control system, even if it were possible to do so, this would result in disproportionate technical difficulties in operation and maintenance. This is due to the significant risk that any interface based on the ‘reverse engineered’ Siemens’ IP would not be fully effective, increasing the likelihood of something going wrong or malfunctioning in the MIC (due to the more complicated and complex arrangements) as well as potentially causing damage to the existing LTTs.
IV.1.8) Gwybodaeth am Gytundeb Caffael y Llywodraeth (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement:
Na
Section V: Dyfarnu contract/consesiwn
V.2 Dyfarnu contract/consesiwn
V.2.1) Y dyddiad y daeth y contract i ben/consesiwn
13/02/2020
V.2.2) Gwybodaeth am dendrau
Dyfarnwyd y contract i gr?p o weithredwyr economaidd:
Ydy
V.2.3) Enw a chyfeiriad y contractwr
Siemens Gas and Power GmbH & Co KG
HRA111200
Werner von Siemens Straße 1
Munich
80333
DE
NUTS: DE
BBaCh yw’r contractwr:
Na
V.2.3) Enw a chyfeiriad y contractwr
Siemens Transmission and Distribution Ltd
00631825
Faraday House, Sir William Square, Frimley
Camberley, Surrey
GU16 8QD
UK
NUTS: UK
BBaCh yw’r contractwr:
Na
V.2.4) Gwybodaeth am werth y contract/lot /consesiwn (heb gynnwys VAT)
Cyfanswm gwerth y contract/lot/consesiwn: 23 000 000.00 GBP
V.2.4) Gwybodaeth am werth y consesiwn a’r prif delerau cyllido (heb gynnwys TAW)
Cyfanswm gwerth y consesiwn/lot: 23 000 000.00 GBP
V.2.5) Gwybodaeth am is-gontractio
Section VI: Gwybodaeth ategol
VI.3) Gwybodaeth ychwanegol
Payments under the contract will be made in both euro € and Sterling £. The contract value included in II.1.7) and V.2.4) is the total value of the contract in Sterling, after applying the appropriate exchange rate.
MIL believes that it is also entitled to follow the negotiated procedure without prior call for competition as the grounds in Regulation 50(1)(c)(ii) and 50(1)(c)(iii) of the Utilities Contracts Regulations 2016 are satisfied.
The supplies for Phase II can only be supplied by Siemens GPTD because competition is absent for technical reasons. This is due to the nature of the equipment making up the MIC, certain key elements of which are proprietary to Siemens e.g. the LTT and VBE. As explained in Part IV.1.1) above other manufacturers' equipment would have different technical characteristics to the Siemens’ VBE (and other aspects of the control system) currently in use.
No other manufacturers’ equipment can switch and monitor the Siemens’ LTT valves and other manufacturers’ equipment would also not be compatible with the other items of existing equipment in the MIC due to the inherent integration requirements between each item of equipment making up the control system and the VBE. MIL does not believe that it is technically or commercially possible to use another manufacturer’s equipment to upgrade the control system. There is no genuine competition between manufacturers in relation to their ability to provide updated control systems for interconnectors using Siemens’ LTT.
In addition, only Siemens GPTD can perform the contract for Phase II, because the following components of the MIC, which are required to be interacted with, updated and interfaced with as part of the upgrade in Phase II, are protected by Siemens’ exclusive Intellectual Property rights:
1) Direct current controls;
2) Thyristor valves;
3) VBE;
4) Direct current protection; and
5) Measuring devices.
Access to the intellectual property contained in these components (including existing control algorithms) is essential in order to understand how these components work together, interface with each other and are able to be configured to interface with the new equipment provided as part of the upgrade in Phase II. Access to the Intellectual Property in these components is also required in order to properly configure the new equipment (so that it interfaces properly with the existing equipment), functions as intended and is commissioned and tested properly.
If another manufacturer were granted access to these intellectual property rights, that would infringe the intellectual property rights of Siemens.
MIL is satisfied that no other alternative or equivalent solutions exist. As explained above due to the unique nature of the existing equipment making up the MIC, and the need to properly interact with this, there is an inability of any other manufacturer to provide functionally comparable supplies. The only technically feasible solution is to have Siemens GPTD supply all the control and protection.
MIL is also satisfied that the absence of competition is not the result of artificially narrowing down the parameters of the procurement. The scope of the project reflects replacing those items of equipment that are either obsolete or soon to become obsolete. There is no imperative to change any of the other equipment in the MIC at this stage in its life, and to do so would be to incur unnecessary and disproportionately high capital expense. Due to the inherent integration requirements between each item of equipment making up the controls it only makes sense from a technical and commercial perspective for the complete scope of replacement of the control and protection system at the converter stations to be carried out by a single contractor. This scope represents the typical content of a project to upgrade an obsolescent control system and is appropriate to such a project.
VI.4) Gweithdrefnau adolygu
VI.4.1) Corff adolygu
High Court of Northern Ireland
Belfast
UK
VI.4.3) Gweithdrefn adolygu
Gwybodaeth fanwl gywir am y terfyn(au) amser ar gyfer gweithdrefnau adolygu:
The Utilities Contracts Regulations 2016 provides the relevant grounds for any parties who seek to bring an action against MIL. Any party who seeks to bring an action will be required to issue legal proceedings in the High Court of Northern Ireland.
MIL is incorporating a standstill period of 10 days, commencing the day after the publication of this notice, prior to entering into the Contract with Siemens GPTD.
VI.5) Dyddiad anfon yr hysbysiad hwn
14/02/2020