Water sector regulator Ofwat has gone out to tender with a contract for Innovation Fund delivery partners 2025-30 worth up to an estimated £18.4 million.
Ofwat is looking to appoint delivery partners to provide support in delivering the Ofwat Innovation Fund and aspects of the Water Efficiency Fund for the upcoming AMP 8 period which runs from April 2025-March 2030.
The fund is a continuation of the existing Innovation Fund which was established in 2020 and the introduction of a new Water Efficiency Fund (WEF).
The Tender covers two specific aspects:
- the Water Efficiency Lab (WEL) – an annual competition similar to the Innovation Fund but focused solely on water efficiency
- the evaluation of the Water Efficiency Campaign (WEC) - the other part of the two components that make up the WEF.
Ofwat is looking for delivery partner support in three distinct but linked areas:
Lot 1: Core Innovation Fund and WEL delivery (£14,500,000)
Lot 1 is broken down into the following services
1. Water Breakthrough Challenge rounds 6-7
2. Water Discovery Challenge round 2
3. Water Efficiency Lab rounds 1-2
4. Collaborative Challenge programme
5. Monitoring of live projects and project closedown
6. Programme governance
7. Marketing and communications
8. Data collection to inform AMP 8 evaluation
The overall budget range for the initial two-year contract for Lot 1: Core Innovation Fund and WEL delivery is £4,400,000 to £5,800,000
The overall budget for years 3 to 5 of the contractwhich will be determined towards the end of year 2 is £6,500,000 to £8,700,000
Lot 2: Implementation programme (£1,900,000)
The Innovation Fund aims to support the adoption and roll-out of innovative products, services and concepts. Ofwat expects most water companies will see the benefits of adopting successful innovations with no further support from Ofwat. However, throughout engagement with companies in 2023/24 Ofwat says it has understood that it can take many years for companies to adopt an innovation and there have been suggestions that part of the fund should be targeted to help speed up implementation of new products, services and concepts.
The appointed supplier and the regulator will work closely together with the sector to determine what an effective implementation programme could look like. The programme will focus on accelerating the adoption and scaling of innovations awarded funding through the Ofwat Innovation Fund but also to support innovation implementation more generally across the sector.
The overall budget range for the initial two-year contract for Lot 2: Implementation programme is £500,000-£800,000
The possible budget in years 3-5 of extension period for Lot 2: Implementation programme is £800,000-£1,100,000
Lot 3: Evaluation (£2,000,000)
Lot 3 is broken down into the following services
1. AMP 7 Evaluation: Delivery of an impact and Value for Money (VfM) evaluation programme before the end of 2027
2. Delivery and coordination of AMP 8 evaluation activity.
The overall budget range for the initial two-year contract for Lot 3: Evaluation is £600,000- £900,000
The overall value in years 3-5 of the period will be determined towards the end of year 2 and could be in the range of £800,000 - £1,100,000
Time limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate is 20 November 2024 – click here to access the tender documentation.
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