Supply of 'Green' Steel Rail Trial

A Contract Award Notice
by NETWORK RAIL INFRASTRUCTURE LTD

Source: Find a Tender
Type: Contract (Goods)
Duration: not specified
Value: £826K

Sector: TRANSPORT
Published: 21 Aug 2023
Delivery: not specified
Deadline: n/a

Concepts

Location

United Kingdom: Delivery shall be made to the Long-Welded Rail Depot at Eastleigh, UK

Geochart for 1 buyers and 1 suppliers

1 buyer

Network Rail Infrastructure London

1 supplier

Saarstahl Rail Sas Thionville Ape

Description

Trial supply of one trainload of steel rail manufactured using Electric Arc Furnace (Green Steel)

Total Quantity or Scope

The provision of a one-off trial supply of R260 (60E2 profile) steel rails, produced using Electric Arc Furnace (Green Steel), for the purpose of research and development

Award Detail

1	Saarstahl Rail Sas (Thionville Ape) Green' Steel Rail Trial Reference: 024460-2023-1-1 Value: £826,098

Award Criteria

Form of Tender and Compliance Statements	Pass/Fail
price	100

CPV Codes

34946000 - Railway-track construction materials and supplies

Legal Justification

Primarily Regulation 50 (1) (b) where a contract is purely for the purpose of research, experiment, study or development and not for the purpose of securing a profit or of recovering research and development costs, and insofar as the award of such contract does not prejudice the competitive award of subsequent contracts which do seek, in particular, those ends. The award of this contract meets this criteria because in order for the contracting authority to meet its intended carbon reduction requirements, it needs to understand the technical differences between EAF and non-EAF steel particularly from a welding perspective. The contracting authority also needs to validate a viable logistics supply chain to our welding plant at Eastleigh. The contracting authority requires this green steel rail to demonstrate if fully 'green' track renewals can be a viable option in the future. The goods are being supplied at cost. Secondarily Regulation 50 (1) (c) where the works, supplies or services can be supplied only by a particular economic operator for the following reason— (ii)competition is absent for technical reasons - detailed market engagement carried out in the context of Network Rail's overall steel sourcing strategy has confirmed that Saarstahl is the only manufacturer currently supplying "green" steel in Europe that has been manufactured using an electric arc furnace. Future supplies of steel rail both EAF and non-EAF will be secured under advertised competitive tender where possible.