Plymouth City Council is inviting interested organisations to register for a Bidders Day on 10th April 2025 to hear about plans for the development of a £3.5 billion heat network for Plymouth - places will be offered on a first come, first served basis.

Photo credit Jabarney  wikiimages CC BY-SA 3.0  Plymouth City  

Plymouth City Council will shortly be seeking a Development Partner to develop and deliver a heat network in Plymouth - the proposed heat network will utilise a significant waste heat source (South West Water Central Plant)

The Development Partner will be expected to have the capital and technical capabilities to support the city's heat network strategy.

The Partner will be required to develop, invest in, deliver, own, operate, maintain and expand a heat network, using a Golden Share Delivery Model. During the first development stage, the Development Partner will be responsible for design and commercialisation of the proposed heat network.

It is envisaged that this will be followed by a delivery stage where the Development Partner would deliver the low carbon heating and cooling network to the City Centre and Millbay areas.

The proposed heat network will utilise a significant waste heat source (South West Water Central Plant) supplying the following clusters of buildings: University of Plymouth, Arts University Plymouth, Devon & Cornwall Police, Plymouth City Council buildings, National Marine Aquarium, Theatre Royal and Plymouth Community Homes flats.

In addition, two preliminary heat network zones have been identified by Department of Energy Security and Net Zero, which offer significant future opportunities for expansion, beyond the initial phase, subject to zone regulations.

The Council is drawing the attention of interested suppliers to the fact that all activities delivered after the development stage will be under an Evergreen form of contract. The contract period dates and associated contract values below have been included for estimated and system purposes only based on the Council's best current estimate.

Plymouth City Council are applying for the government Green Heat Network Fund to contribute towards the new heat network costs, including commercialisation and construction costs. The remaining development and delivery funding will be provided by the appointed Heat Network Development Partner.

Current total estimated value is £3.5 billion (excluding VAT) and estimated contract dates are 1 February 2026 to 31 January 2086, with a further possible extension to 31 January 2096.

The preliminary market engagement for the project will take the form of a Bidders Day which will be held on 10th April 2025 in Commonwealth Suite, Crowne Plaza, Armada Way PLYMOUTH PL1 2HJ

For the main session, suppliers interest in bidding for this opportunity are asked to complete an online registration form at the following link: https://forms.office.com/e/ksM9Aqzdt2

Due to venue capacity places are limited and the number of representatives will be restricted to 3 per organisation. Booking of places will be on first come first serve basis.

There will also be an opportunity for local suppliers to attend a networking lunch (from 12.30pm) to find out how they might become involved in the project. Local suppliers who want to join the networking session are asked to register using the following link: https://forms.office.com/e/fmJ66qHeDs. Again, places are limited.

Any queries regarding the Bidders Day should be emailed to the team on:  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Estimated publication date of tender notice is currenly 12th May 2025.

Click here to access the Preliminary Engagement Notice documentation.