Procurement and Delivery

For information about how to connect with the Major Contract or smaller works packages, visit Business Opportunities.

Delivery model

Northern Water intends to deliver the major works for the project under a collaborative design, build, operate and maintain (DBOM) contract model.

Under the DBOM model, Northern Water will enter two primary contracts with a single consortium to build and operate the plant and pipeline comprising a contract to design and construct, and a contract to operate and maintain. Proposals for both contracts will be tendered concurrently and submitted as a joint proposal.

The teams delivering the two primary contracts will be required to work together to ensure the balance between construction costs, and operations and maintenance costs are considered together, and achieve optimal overall cost over the term of the project.

The table below illustrates examples of local content that may be required under each of the contracts.

One consortium

Two contracts

Design and Build 2025–2030 Indicative timings
Local supply opportunities for this contract include: Civil works Pipeline construction Traffic management Accommodation Wet and dry equipment hire Mechanical repair Logistics Environmental survey Fencing Security Steel fabrication Cleaning services Catering Electrical service Car hire

Operation and Maintenance 2028-2048 Indicative timings
The contract will involve operation and maintenance of the plant and pipeline for the next 15 to 25 years. Local supply opportunities for this contract include: Environmental monitoring Inspections Cleaning services Security Pump repair Pump maintenance Electrical servicing Mechanical trades Easement management Weed management

Procurement process

Registration of interest

A Registration of Interest (ROI) process was undertaken in late 2023. Organisations with previous involvement with large desalination or pipeline network projects were invited to register. Those who met the eligibility criteria have now been invited to participate in a formal of Expression of Interest (EOI) process.

Expressions of interest

Organisations who met the selection criteria of the ROI have been invited to participate in the formal EOI process. Access to both the EOI document and the dataroom was granted exclusively to those who met the criteria of the ROI and executed an NDA. This allowed access to sensitive project details available only to restricted to authorised personnel.

Responses are currently being assessed on their ability to deliver the project in alignment with the project's requirements.

Key criteria used in the evaluation process includes:

consortium arrangements
previous experience on similar project/s
capability and capacity to deliver the contract requirements
commercial/legal terms
Industry Participation Plan Statement of Intent response (seeking to optimise the use of local businesses wherever possible).

Request for proposal

Once shortlisted, two consortia will submit a proposal to deliver the DBOM contract. This will involve a multiple-month interactive tender process.

There will be clear price and non-price items in the weighted criteria for evaluation.

Local content will be an important part of the tender evaluation process.