Published date: 1 August 2023

Last edited date: 2 August 2023

Closed opportunity - This means that the contract is currently closed. The buying department may be considering suppliers that have already applied, or no suitable offers were made.


Closing: 5 September 2023, 5pm

Contract summary

Industry

  • Technical publications - 22121000

Location of contract

United Kingdom

Value of contract

£10,000 to £41,665

Procurement reference

SGA-CAPERM008-10

Published date

1 August 2023

Closing date

5 September 2023

Closing time

5pm

Contract start date

18 September 2023

Contract end date

29 February 2024

Contract type

Service contract

Procedure type

Open procedure (below threshold)

Any interested supplier may submit a tender in response to an opportunity notice.

This procedure can be used for procurements below the relevant contract value threshold.

Contract is suitable for SMEs?

Yes

Contract is suitable for VCSEs?

Yes

Description

Offshore wind external cable protection measures are commonplace in offshore wind farms to protect free span areas of cables between a substructure and the buried cable section. Environmental impact assessments (e.g., EIAs and HRAs) assume total loss of habitat beneath cable protection. However, there is some uncertainty as to whether ecological function, of the habitat the cable protection is deployed on, can continue for some cable protection measures (depending on the substrata that the cable is deployed upon) and whether different cable protection measures have different levels of effect.
Offshore Wind Environmental Evidence Register (OWEER) considers impacts of introduced hard substrate on benthic habitats and species as priority area of research and a remaining evidence gap. Ascertaining a better understanding of the ecological function of benthic habitats to anthropogenic hard substrate could potentially reduce short term and long term consenting risks and support the offshore development aspiration of the BESS.
Whilst regulators must balance priorities between environmental impacts of cable protection measures with other considerations, including the views of commercial fisheries, this project intends to focus on increasing evidence of ecological impacts of cable protection measures to support evidence-based decision-making.

More information

Attachments

Additional text

To apply for this opportunity you must submit your quotation meeting the requirements detailed in the Request for Quotation (RFQ) attached.
Your response must be sent to lucy.crooks@naturalengland.org.uk by 17:00 on 05/09/2023.

If you have any clarification questions linked to this opportunity or the procurement process please submit these via email to lucy.crooks@naturalengland.org.uk. Please note that, unless commercially sensitive, both the question and the response will be circulated to all tenderers.

About the buyer

Contact name

Lucy Crooks

Address

Ashford International House
Dover Place
Ashford
TN23 1HU
United Kingdom

Telephone

07554116046

Email

lucy.crooks@naturalengland.org.uk