Voluntary ex ante transparency notice
Directive 2009/81/EC
Section I: Contracting
authority
I.1) Name and addresses
Ministry of Defence, Submarines, In-Service Submarines (ISM) Team
Ash 1a, #3112, Abbey Wood
Bristol
BS34 8JH
UK
Contact person: Lee Vout
Telephone: +44 3001685447
E-mail: lee.vout100@mod.gov.uk
NUTS: UK
Internet address(es)
Main address: https://des.mod.uk/job_categories/sda/
I.4) Type of the contracting authority
Ministry or any other national or federal authority, including their regional or local subdivisions
I.5) Main activity
Defence
Section II: Object
II.1) Scope of the procurement
II.1.1) Title
Submarine Main Batteries Batch 9
Reference number: SDA/ISM/701294373
II.1.2) Main CPV code
31421000
II.1.3) Type of contract
Supplies
II.1.4) Short description
Procurement, maintenance, support and disposal of Royal Navy Submarine Type 8800 main battery cells, associated support equipment, and spares which are required to support the fleet of Vanguard, Astute, and Trafalgar class submarines.
II.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots:
No
II.1.7) Total value of the procurement
Value excluding VAT:
23 500 000.00
GBP
II.2) Description
II.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
35512000
II.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS code:
UK
Main site or place of performance:
UNITED KINGDOM.
II.2.4) Description of the procurement
Procurement, maintenance, support and disposal of Royal Navy Submarine Type 8800 main battery cells, associated support equipment, and spares which are required to support the fleet of Vanguard, Astute, and Trafalgar class submarines.
II.2.11) Information about options
Options:
No
II.2.13) Information about European Union funds
The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds:
No
Section IV: Procedure
IV.1) Description
IV.1.1) Type of procedure
Negotiated procedure without publication of a contract notice
Justification for selected award procedure:
The works, supplies or services can be provided only by a particular economic operator for the following reason: absence of competition for technical reasons
Explanation:
(i) The purpose of this Voluntary Transparency Notice (VTN) is to notify the market of the intention of In-Service Submarines, which forms part of the Submarine Delivery Agency (SDA), to enter into a 7-year contract on a single source basis with Pacific Marine Batteries Pty Ltd.
(ii) The contract shall be for the supply, maintenance, support and disposal of Royal Navy Submarine Type 8800 main battery cells, associated support equipment and spares which are required to support the fleet of Vanguard, Astute and Trafalgar class submarines.
(iii) Enersys Ltd’s exit from the submarine main batteries market and their transfer of all related technical information and other assets to Pacific Marine Batteries Pty Ltd has resulted in Pacific Marine Batteries Pty Ltd becoming the only supplier capable of providing In-Service Submarines with the requirement.
(iv) The contract shall be subject to the negotiated procedure without prior publication of a contract notice under DSPCR 2011 Regulation 16 (1)(a)(ii) where for technical reasons the contract may only be awarded to a particular economic operator. This is due to the technical need to utilise the Enersys cell design 8800 main battery cells to ensure operability with multiple systems such as agitation system, ventilation system, shock, electrical protection, endurance and to ensure nuclear safety.
(v) These systems have been designed and validated against the 8800 Ahr Enersys cell parameters and onboard battery configuration. The main battery compartment is sized around an exact multiple of the width and length of the cell. Furthermore, all support equipment is sized both electrically and spatially around the 8800 Ahr Enersys cell. Any replacement battery would require a complete redesign and validation of the relevant systems within the battery compartment. As such, using any other cell would present significant interoperability and incompatibility issues. Pacific Marine Batteries Pty Ltd are the only contractor able to supply the required configuration of cell.
(vi) Furthermore, Regulation 16(1)(b)(i) part (bb) applies. That is because additional Royal Navy Submarine Type 8800 main battery cells are required as a partial replacement for the existing cells and to obtain cells from any economic operator other than Pacific Marine Batteries Pty Ltd would oblige SDA to acquire goods having different technical characteristics which would result in disproportionate technical difficulties in operation and maintenance.
(vii) It is anticipated that the contract award date will be Spring 2022 with an estimated value of GBP 23.5 million (ex VAT).
IV.1.8) Information about Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement:
No
IV.2) Administrative information
IV.2.1) Previous publication concerning this procedure
Notice number in the OJ S:
2020/S 101-245159
Section V: Award of contract/concession
Contract No: SDA/ISM/701294373
Title: Submarine Main Batteries Batch 9
V.2 Award of contract/concession
V.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract/concession
02/12/2020
V.2.2) Information about tenders
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators:
No
V.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Pacific Marine Batteries Pty Ltd
715 Mersey Road North
Osborne
5017
AU
Telephone: +61 0870775500
E-mail: enquiries@pmbdefence.com.au
Fax: +61 0870775577
NUTS: 00
Internet address(es)
URL: https://pmbdefence.com.au/
The contractor is an SME:
Yes
V.2.4) Information on value of the concession and main financing terms (excluding VAT)
Total value of the concession/lot:
23 500 000.00
GBP
V.2.5) Information about subcontracting
Section VI: Complementary information
VI.3) Additional information
The authority reserves the right to amend any condition related to security of information to reflect any changes in national law or government policy. If any contract documents are accompanied by instructions on safeguarding classified information (e.g. a Security Aspects Letter), the authority reserves the right to amend the terms of these instructions to reflect any changes in national law or government policy, whether in respect of the applicable protective marking scheme, specific protective markings given, the aspects to which any protective marking applies, or otherwise. The link below to the Gov.uk website provides information on the Government Security Classification.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/government-security-classifications
Advertising regime OJEU: this contract opportunity is published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU), the MoD Defence Contracts Bulletin and www.contracts.mod.uk
Go reference: GO-2020123-DCB-17454622
VI.4) Procedures for review
VI.4.1) Review body
Ministry of Defence, Submarines, In-Service Submarines (ISM) Team
Ash 1a, #3112, Abbey Wood
Bristol
BS34 8JH
UK
Telephone: +44 3001685447
E-mail: lee.vout100@mod.gov.uk
VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice
03/12/2020