Hounslow Strategic Energy Partnership

Tender description

The Opportunity Following Cabinet approval in December 2025, the London Borough of Hounslow (“the Council”) intends to commence a procurement mid-late 2027 to select a Strategic Energy Partner (“the Partner”) for a Strategic Energy Partnership (“SEP”). The Partner will help unlock investment and deliver a diverse portfolio of energy projects and programmes to drive the borough’s energy transformation, accelerate decarbonisation and support the Council’s net zero ambitions for both its own operations and estate and the wider borough. An estimated £500m+ pipeline of energy infrastructure has been identified to support the borough’s regeneration, growth and decarbonisation agenda. This includes building retrofit, renewable energy generation, vehicle fleet decarbonisation and EV charging infrastructure. The Council aims to structure a commercially viable partnership that can fund, develop and deliver this pipeline in support of the borough’s economic, social and environmental objectives. A key role of the Partner will be to identify and develop further pipeline opportunities and innovative energy solutions. The partnership is intended as a long-term collaboration with the Council, the partnership and the respective roles of the Council. How The Engagement Will Work The Council will conduct a two-stage preliminary market engagement. Stage 1 will allow interested parties and the Council to explore the SEP opportunity and share information to refine the partnership structure, approach and proposed pipeline. It will comprise: • a webinar presented by the Council on Wednesday 25 November 2026 at 12:00, held online via Microsoft Teams; and • one-to-one interviews with the Council and its advisors over a two-week period from Monday 7 December 2026 to 18 December 2026 Stage 2 is expected to take place in spring 2027 and will provide more detailed information on the proposed pipeline, the Council’s commercial development work and procurement approach. How To Take Part If your organisation is interested in becoming the Council’s Strategic Energy Partner and wishes to take part, please register your interest via the Council’s eTendering portal by 23:59 on Monday 23 November 2026 where a link is provided to the webinar. Market Engagement interviews Interview slots are limited and will be prioritised to organisations intending to bid as the primary contractor or a lead specialist contractor. A primary contractor would be contracting directly with the Council as the Partner, solely, leading a consortium or partnership. A lead specialist contractor for a key area of decarbonisation delivery or investment who would be part of a consortium or partnership. Participants must confirm their intention on the portal with their interview request. Interviews are subject to a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA), available on the portal. Invitations will be issued once the signed NDA has been uploaded on the portal. Members of a potential consortium or partnership are asked to attend a single interview together. The Council welcomes feedback from across the market, including supply chain organisations, SMEs and VCSEs. Questions may be submitted via the portal, before and after the engagement, up to the deadline in the timetable below. Interviewees will be subject to the confidentiality provisions of the NDA. The Council and its advisors will respond via the portal. The webinar presentation, together with an anonymised record of questions, responses and any other relevant information shared during the engagement, excluding information identified as commercially sensitive, will be made available on the portal to all registered parties. Related Opportunity The Council is also procuring a Heat Network Development Partner to fund and deliver a district heating network across the borough (the “Hounslow Heat Network”). A separate preliminary market engagement notice has been published for that opportunity (2026/S 000-104350). The Hounslow Heat Network is not being procured as part of the SEP. Organisations may take part in either or both engagements. Fair And Transparent Engagement • Taking part in this engagement is not a condition of taking part in any future procurement and will not give any organisation an advantage. • A summary of the questions, answers and key information shared at each stage will be published to all registered parties via the portal and included in any future procurement documents. Questions will be anonymised and commercially sensitive information will not be disclosed. • The Council is supported by Womble Bond Dickinson (UK) LLP and Amberside Advisors. When registering, please declare any relationship with the Council, its officers or its advisors that could give rise to a conflict of interest. Indicative Timetable The indicative timetable for the SEP engagement and procurement is as follows (subject to change): Stage 1 engagement Preliminary market engagement notice published: Tuesday 3 Nov 2026 Registration deadline; webinar invitation and information pack issued: Monday 23 Nov 2026, 23:59 Webinar: Wednesday 25 Nov 2026, 12:00 One-to-one interviews: Monday 7 – Friday 18 Dec 2026 Deadline for submission of questions: Friday 18 Dec 2026, 1pm Publication of Stage 1 engagement feedback: Thursday 14 Jan 2027 Stage 2 engagement Stage 2 engagement event (details to follow): Q2 2027 Procurement Tender notice published with full tender documentation: Q3 2027 The Council currently expects to use the competitive flexible procedure under the Procurement Act 2023, including stages of dialogue. The procedure will be confirmed in the tender notice and associated tender documents. All communications will be via the Council’s eTendering portal. _______________________________________________________________ IMPORTANT INFORMATION This notice is not a call for competition or an invitation to tender and does not bind the Council to carry out a procurement process. Information provided through this engagement is subject to change and does not represent final decisions or commitments. The Council and its advisers are not liable for any costs that interested parties may incur in taking part in this preliminary market engagement. Information submitted may be subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004. Please identify any information you consider commercially sensitive. Personal data will be handled in accordance with the Council’s privacy notice (https://www.hounslow.gov.uk/privacy-notice). This engagement is carried out in compliance with sections 16 and 17 of the Procurement Act 2023. Keywords: Retrofit, Hounslow, Decarbonisation, Solar, Strategic energy partnership, Energy partner