TI LirIC Limited (Transmission Investment Group): LirIC EPCI HVDC/AC Cables Supply and Install

UK-London: High-voltage cable.

Scope

Description: This Tender Notice coincides with the launch of the procurement process for Engineering, Procurement, Construction, Installation and Commissioning (EPCI) for the High Voltage Cable Works in relation to the LirIC HVDC Interconnector located between Scotland and Northern Ireland (NI).

This Tender Notice is linked to a Request to Participate event in the Delta eSourcing platform where potential bidders are asked to provide certain information followed by an indication of the Lot they wish to bid for.

Previous publications

This Tender Notices follows the UK3 Planned Procurement Notice published on 5 March 2025. Reference: 2025/S 000-007973

TI LirIC Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Transmission Investment (TI), a leading UK-based energy and utility investment platform. TI is part of TAQA Transmission, a subsidiary of the TAQA Group.

The LirIC Project

TI LirIC Limited is engaged in the development of an up to 700MW High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) electricity interconnector project that will connect the Great Britain (GB) and Irish (I-SEM) transmission networks. This project is called the "LirIC" Project (https://tinv.com/intercon-projects/liric/).

The project will link grid connection points in the GB and Northern Irish transmission grids.
The LirIC interconnector shall utilise Voltage Source Converter (VSC) technology and the configuration shall be a Symmetrical Monopole. The rated DC voltage shall be +/-320 kV.
The link shall be bi-directional and shall have a rated power (receiving end) of 700 MW

The LirlC Project components

The main components of the LirIC Project will comprise:

•LOT B Group (to which this Tender Notice relates):

• Two (2) High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) electricity cables buried in or placed (and protected) upon the seabed between Northern Ireland (Kilroot) and Scotland (Hunterston) to a route length of approx.140km.

•HVDC onshore and offshore cable 'transition bays' near the shorelines at the landfall points in both Scotland and Northern Ireland; It is expected that at both landfalls horizontal directional drilling (HDD) will be required to facilitate the export cables transition from onshore to offshore.

•HVDC onshore cables from the transition bays to each of the converter stations assumed to be no more than 2km at each site;

•High Voltage AC onshore cables from the Scottish converter station to the Scottish grid connection. The AC connection voltage on the GB side of the link is 400 kV and 275 kV at the NI side. (The High Voltage AC onshore cables from the NI converter station to the NI grid connection will be delivered by others.)

•LOT A Group (under a separate Tender Notice in respect of the LirIC Project)
•HVDC to HVAC VSC Converter Stations in both Scotland and Northern Ireland with associated civil and building works
NOTE: The works and services for Lot A listed below are not being procured by means of this Tender Notice and bidders should refer to the separate publication)

The Project has been awarded an 'in principle' cap and floor arrangement in Great Britain by Ofgem and a transmission licence in Northern Ireland. The Project is targeting a Financial Close in Q3 2027.

Preliminary Market Engagement

TI LirIC Limited has conducted Preliminary Market Engagement prior to publication of this Tender Notice and encourages further collaboration between OEM's and Construction Contractors to establish bidding arrangements in time for the next step of the Procurement Process (notably the Qualification Questionnaire).
Any prospective bidder wishing to receive the final Pre-Tender bulletin should contact the contracting authority by email.

Request to Participate (RTP)

Respondents wishing to participate are requested to register in Delta eSourcing (via the link https://www.delta-esourcing.com/).

The Link to the Request to Participate event for all Lotting options in Lot Group B can be found in this Tender Notice.

Information relating to each Lot covered under this notice can be found below in this Tender Notice.

Bidders will only be allowed to choose one Lot.

Any questions relating to the RTP must be sent through the Delta message center.

For the avoidance of doubt, TI LirIC Limited does not consider itself to be bound by the Procurement Act 2023 or any associated procurement legislation (together, "UK procurement legislation"). Accordingly, the procurement for the award of Converter Stations and Civil & Building Works as further described in this notice and any associated documents (the "Procurement") is not, nor does it purport to be, subject to UK procurement legislation. For the avoidance of doubt, interested suppliers are put on notice that the publication of this document and any other document that relates to this Procurement is published voluntarily and nothing in this document, or any other document that TI LirIC Limited publishes in relation to this Procurement should be construed as purporting to give rise to rights or obligations under UK procurement legislation.
For more information about this opportunity, please visit the Delta eSourcing portal at:
https://www.delta-esourcing.com/tenders/UK-UK-London:-High-voltage-cable./W6C227A75S

To respond to this opportunity, please click here:
https://www.delta-esourcing.com/respond/W6C227A75S

Total value (estimated):

GBP 304,000,000 excluding VAT GBP 365,000,000 including VAT

Maximum number of lots a supplier can bid for: 1
Maximum number of lots a supplier can be awarded: 1

Lots

Lot LOT B1 : [LOT B1]: LirIC HVDC Cables Offshore and Onshore (two sites)
Description: HVDC Cables between the two HVDC Converter Stations (at Hunterston and at Kilroot). This will include the Subsea cable, landing and underground cables to the converter stations. See the specifications highlighted in the scope. Design, Supply, Installation, Testing and Commissioning will form part of this Lot.

It is envisaged that the contract will be made in stages with consideration of a Preferred Supplier Agreement (Capacity Reservation, FEED studies and EPCI Heads of Terms).
Following the completion of the FEED the decision shall be taken on whether to proceed with the award of an EPCI contract for detailed design / engineering, construction and commissioning, and also the decision for the O&M scope. The EPCI contract shall not be subject to a separate Tender Notice
Value (estimated):
GBP 296,000,000 excluding VAT GBP 355,000,000 including VAT
Contract dates (estimated)
01/03/2026 to 30/09/2032
CPV Classifications:
31321300 - High-voltage cable. 31321500 - Submarine cable. 45000000 - Construction work. 45314310 - Installation of cable laying.
Delivery regions:
UKM93 East Ayrshire and North Ayrshire mainland
UKN06 Belfast

Award criteria:
Quality criterion - Name: Technical, Scope & Programme (Further information at ITT stage) / Weighting: 50
Quality criterion - Name: Cost & Commercials (Further information at ITT stage) / Weighting: 50

Legal and financial capacity conditions of participation: Specified in the pre-selection stage (RTP) and for those bidders selected for the Qualification Questionnaire (QQ) Stage.
Technical ability conditions of participation: Specified in the Qualification Instructions available for downloading for bidders participating at the Qualification Questions (QQ) Stage.
Lot LOT B2 : [LOT B2]: LirIC HVAC Cables (Scotland Only)
Description: The HVAC Cables and associated Civil Works that will run from the Hunterston Converter Station to the Scottish AC Grid. See the specifications highlighted in the scope. Design, Supply, Installation, Testing and Commissioning will form part of this Lot.
It is envisaged that the contract will be made in stages with consideration of an Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) arrangement and EPCI Heads of Terms).
Following the completion of the ECI the decision shall be taken on whether to proceed with the award of an EPCI contract for detailed design and construction, and also the decision for the O&M scope. The EPCI contract shall not be subject to a separate Tender Notice
Value (estimated):
GBP 8,000,000 excluding VAT GBP 10,000,000 including VAT
Contract dates (estimated)
01/03/2026 to 30/09/2032
CPV Classifications:
31321300 - High-voltage cable. 45000000 - Construction work. 45314310 - Installation of cable laying.
Delivery regions:
UKM93 East Ayrshire and North Ayrshire mainland

Award criteria:
Quality criterion - Name: Technical, Scope & Programme (Further information at ITT stage) / Weighting: 50
Quality criterion - Name: Cost & Commercials (Further information at ITT stage) / Weighting: 50

Legal and financial capacity conditions of participation: Specified in the pre-selection stage (RTP) and for those bidders selected for the Qualification Questionnaire (QQ) Stage.
Technical ability conditions of participation: Specified in the Qualification Instructions available for downloading for bidders participating at the Qualification Questions (QQ) Stage.
Lot LOT B : [LOT B]: LirIC Cables (All HVDC and HVAC Cables) Supply and Installation
Description: This is a combined solution of Lot B1 (HVDC Cables) plus Lot B2 (HVAC Cables)

It is envisaged that the contract will be made in stages with consideration of a Preferred Supplier Agreement (Capacity Reservation, FEED/ECI studies and EPCI Heads of Terms).

Following the completion of the FEED/ECI the decision shall be taken on whether to proceed with the award of an EPCI contract for detailed design / engineering, construction and commissioning, and also the decision for the O&M scope. The EPCI contract shall not be subject to a separate Tender Notice

Additional credit in the evaluation criteria will be given to those bidders who bid for the Lot B combined solution (additional information on the evaluation criteria will be released with the ITT Instructions during the ITT stage).

The estimated value of Lot B is the combined values of Lot B1 and Lot B2.
Value (estimated):
GBP 0 excluding VAT GBP 0 including VAT
Contract dates (estimated)
01/03/2026 to 30/09/2032
CPV Classifications:
31321300 - High-voltage cable. 31321500 - Submarine cable. 45000000 - Construction work. 45314310 - Installation of cable laying.
Delivery regions:
UKM93 East Ayrshire and North Ayrshire mainland
UKN06 Belfast

Award criteria:
Quality criterion - Name: Technical, Scope & Programme (Further information at ITT stage) / Weighting: 50
Quality criterion - Name: Cost & Commercials (Further information at ITT stage) / Weighting: 50

Legal and financial capacity conditions of participation: Specified in the pre-selection stage (RTP) and for those bidders selected for the Qualification Questionnaire (QQ) Stage.
Technical ability conditions of participation: Specified in the Qualification Instructions available for downloading for bidders participating at the Qualification Questions (QQ) Stage.    

Submission

Publication date of tender notice (estimated): 06/03/2025 Enquiry deadline: 13/06/2025 Time: 12:00Tender submission deadline: 24/04/2025 Time: 12:00
Submission address and any special instructions: https://www.delta-esourcing.com
An electronic auction will be used: No
Languages that may be used for submission: English, Award decision date (estimated): 15/02/2026

Procedure

Procedure type: Competitive flexible procedure

Contracting authority

       TI LirIC Limited, PWJV-7322-MWTR
       17th Floor, 88 Wood Street, London, EC2V 7DA, United Kingdom
       Tel. 07985244657, Email: brian.dunn@tinv.com
       Contact: Brian Dunn
       Address of the buyer profile: www.tinv.com

Organisation type: BODY_PUBLIC
Devolved regulations that apply: None