CELTIC001 – Cable Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) Contract for the Celtic Interconnector Project

CIDAC — Celtic Interconnector Designated Activity Company Contact

The Celtic Electrical Interconnector FR-IR Project is being developed as a 700 MW, 320 kV VSC HVDC link between the French and Irish transmissions systems. This HVDC link is composed of one circuit, comprised of two power cables and two converter stations. The link is approximately 575 km long, of which the offshore element comprises approximately 500 km. The converter stations are currently anticipated to be located close to the 400 kV La Martyre substation (France) and the Knockraha 220 kV substation in Co. Cork (Ireland).
The project is supported by the European Union’s Connecting Europe facility (CEF).
A separate contract notice will be published for an EPC Contract relating to the design, manufacture, delivery, installation, commissioning and maintenance of the converter station.

Deadline

The time limit for receipt of tenders was 2020-11-09. The procurement was published on 2020-10-05.

Suppliers

The following suppliers are mentioned in award decisions or other procurement documents:

• Nexans Norway AS

Who?

• CIDAC — Celtic Interconnector Designated Activity Company Contact

What?

Where?

• France
• Éire/Ireland › Ireland

Procurement history

Date	Document
2020-10-05	Contract notice
2022-12-20	Contract award notice

Contract notice (2020-10-05)
Object
Scope of the procurement
Title: Construction work
Reference number: 19637
Short description:

The Celtic Electrical Interconnector FR-IR Project is being developed as a 700 MW, 320 kV VSC HVDC link between the French and Irish transmissions systems. This HVDC link is composed of one circuit, comprised of two power cables and two converter stations. The link is approximately 575 km long, of which the offshore element comprises approximately 500 km. The converter stations are currently anticipated to be located close to the 400 kV La Martyre substation (France) and the Knockraha 220 kV substation in Co. Cork (Ireland). The project is supported by the European Union’s Connecting Europe facility (CEF). A separate contract notice will be published for an EPC Contract relating to the design, manufacture, delivery, installation, commissioning and maintenance of the converter station.

Notice metadata
Original language: English 🗣️
Document type: Contract notice
Nature of contract: Works
Regulation: European Union, with participation of GPA countries
Common procurement vocabulary (CPV)
Code: Construction work 📦
Additional CPV: Electricity distribution and control apparatus 📦
Place of performance
NUTS region: France 🏙️

Procedure
Procedure type: Negotiated procedure
Type of bid: Submission for all lots
Award criteria
The most economic tender

Contracting authority
Identity
Country: Ireland 🇮🇪
Awarding authority type: Utilities entity
Awarding authority name: CIDAC — Celtic Interconnector Designated Activity Company Contact
Postal address: Block 2 The Oval, 160 Shelbourne Road
Postal town: Dublin 4
Contact
Internet address: https://rte-france.bravosolution.com 🌏
E-mail: noam.chebaye@rte-france.com 📧
Phone: +33 179248070 📞
URL for documents: https://rte-france.bravosolution.com 🌏

Reference
Dates
Date dispatched: 2020-10-05 📅
Submission deadline: 2020-11-09 📅
Publication date: 2020-10-09 📅
Identifiers
Notice number: 2020/S 197-477840
Refers to notice: 2019/S 219-536656
OJ-S issue: 197
Additional information

All communications throughout the tender process related to the CIDAC Celtic project must be sent via (rte-france.bravosolution.com). Any communications not sent via this e-sourcing portal will not receive a response. CIDAC (including RTE and EirGrid) will not accept any responsibility should this happen. In this regard, further information is set out in the procurement documents.

Object
Scope of the procurement
Short description:

The project is supported by the European Union’s Connecting Europe facility (CEF).

+ 1 more

A separate contract notice will be published for an EPC Contract relating to the design, manufacture, delivery, installation, commissioning and maintenance of the converter station.

Estimated total value: 570 000 000 EUR 💰
Short description:

This notice relates to the EPC contract for the detailed design, engineering, procurement, manufacturing, delivery, installation and commissioning of the Cable Link between Ireland and France, and (if necessary) associated maintenance contract/s, inclusive of all civil works.

The overall length of the HVDC cable route is estimated to be approximately 575 km with underground DC cable of approximately 40 km in France, a HVDC submarine cable section approximately 500 km long, and approximately 32 km of HVDC underground cable in Ireland. All cable lengths are approximate and to be confirmed at a later stage.

+ 20 more

Fibre optic cable will also be required to be installed alongside the power cables.

There will be a length of HVAC underground cable required to link the converter station to the Knockraha 220 kV AC substation in East Cork on the Irish side. A HVAC substation will form part of the Project requirements on the Irish side (as part of Converter Station EPC Contract) to facilitate the HVAC connection from the converter station to the Knockraha 220 kV station in East Cork. The scope of the Cable EPC Contract shall include:

— design, manufacturing, delivery, installation, laying and burial of DC submarine cable system for the DC offshore element of the link (note, landfall transition joint civils and accessories are included in the offshore element of the link);

— design, manufacturing, delivery and installation of DC onshore cable system inclusive of all civil requirements;

— design manufacturing, delivery and installation of Fibre Optic cable system inclusive of all civil requirements;

— AC cable system requirements in Ireland inclusive of manufacturing, delivery and installation;

— all testing,and commissioning requirements for the DC offshore, DC onshore, Fibre optic, AC cable systems and overall installed link are also included in this Cable EPC Contract; and

— warranty period defects rectification for the DC onshore, DC offshore and AC cable systems is also included.

— there may be a requirement for collateral warranties and/or direct agreements in favour of third parties with an interest in the Project.

Maintenance

It is expected that during the defects liability period under the Cable EPC Contract the EPC Contractor shall be obliged to remedy defects in accordance with the terms of the Cable EPC Contract.

Subject to the nature of defects obligations under the Cable EPC Contract, it is also anticipated that certain other maintenance services will be managed under a separate contract, the terms of which will be agreed with the appointed EPC Contractor (or another nominated entity) as part of the Cable EPC Contract negotiations. This separate maintenance contract shall, at the option of the contracting entity, be concluded between either:

(a) (i) the Contracting Entity on the one part; and

(ii) the appointed EPC Contractor (or another nominated entity) on the other part; or

(b) (i) EirGrid and RTE (or any of their respective group companies) on the one part; and

(ii) the appointed EPC Contractor (or another nominated entity) on the other part.

The maintenance contract will provide for a range of maintenance services to be provided over a period of years. The maintenance requirements associated with EirGrid’s assets and RTE’s assets may vary.

The law under which the IMR will be governed will be specified at the ITT.

The contracting entity, CIDAC, is an incorporated joint venture company established in Ireland, to procure the design, construction, installation, commissioning and maintenance of the Celtic Interconnector assets.

The CELTIC Electrical Interconnector FR-IR Project is a joint project developed by CIDAC in its own name but on behalf of its shareholders, Réseau de Transport d’Electricité (RTE) and EirGrid plc, who act as the transmission system operators in France and Ireland respectively.

Estimated value excluding VAT: 570 000 000 EUR 💰
Duration: 60 months
Description of renewals:

The EPC contract shall not be subject to renewal. However, associated maintenance contract(s) may be subject to renewal at the Contracting Entity’s discretion.The duration of the IMR contract is estimated at between 5 and 15 years.The IMR Contract for the French and Irish side may be renewed at RTE and EirGrid discretion for a period not exceeding 40 years.Details will be provided later in the ITT

Description of options:

Variants and options: The contracting entity reserves the right to use such variants and options as it may deem necessary. Further information on these will be provide in the procurement documents.

Name of EU-financed project or programme: Celtic Electrical Interconnector FR-IR — Connecting Europe Facility programme — Trans-European Energy (TEN).
Additional information:

Place of performance
Main site or place of performance:

County Cork in Ireland, Celtic sea between Ireland and France — Finistère Department (near Brest) in France.

Legal, economic, financial and technical information
Conditions for participation
Suitability to pursue the professional activity: Please refer to the procurement documents (PQQ and Information Memorandum).
Economic and financial standing:

Selection criteria are set out in the procurement documents (PQQ and Information Memorandum). There are minimum requirements in relation to financial standing that must be satisfied for the candidate to remain in the competition.

Technical and professional ability:

Selection criteria are set out in the PQQ and the Information Memorandum. There are minimum requirements in relation to technical and professional ability that must be satisfied for the candidate to remain in the competition.

List and brief description of rules and criteria:

List and brief description of rules and criteria: In order to participate in the competition, various legal, financial and technical requirements must be met by the Candidate and associated entities. Only those candidates who meet all of the minimum requirements and are not eliminated from the competition for any other lawful reason will proceed to have their scores for technical and professional ability aggregated; it is anticipated that the four (4) Candidates with the highest aggregate scores in respect of technical and professional ability will be invited to proceed to the negotiation phase (ITT). The contracting entity reserves the right at its absolute discretion to select more or less candidates in accordance with the procurement documents.

Please refer to the procurement documents (PQQ and the Information Memorandum) for full information about the rules and criteria for participation.

Contract execution
Deposits and guarantees required:

It is expected that customary bonds, guarantees and collateral warranties would be required from the entity/entities appointed to the Cable EPC contract and/or the maintenance contract(s) and their respective sub-contractors by the contracting entity and/or the shareholders or either of them and/or their respective funders, (if any).

A contractual commitment, in a form satisfactory to the contracting entity (e.g. collateral warranties, direct agreements, bonds, parent company guarantees, etc.), may also be required from any entity upon whose resources or support a candidate may rely.

Main financing conditions and payment arrangements and/or reference to the relevant provisions governing them:

Main financial conditions and payment arrangements will be described in the procurement documents.

Legal form to be taken by the group of economic operators to whom the contract is to be awarded:

Where a group of economic operators is successful in the competition and proposes to enter into the Cable Link EPC Contract (or an associated maintenance contract) together, they may, be required by the contracting entity to incorporate a company for the purpose of entering into the contract. Where the contracting entity does not require the successful group of economic operators to incorporate a company for the purpose of entering into the cable EPC contract (or an associated maintenance contract), it may require the candidate members in question to assume joint and several liability under the contract.

Contract performance conditions: Details will be set out in the procurement documents (where applicable).

In the event the cable station EPC contractor sub-contracts any part of the contract, it shall be required to comply with related articles L.2193-1 and following and R. 2193-1 and following of the French Public Procurement Code.

Procedure
Legal basis: 32014L0025
Applicable procurement law:

The applicable national procurement law is Irish law, principally the European Union (Award of Contracts by Utility Undertakings) Regulations 2016 (SI No 286 of 2016).

Envisaged number of candidates: 4
Objective criteria for choosing the limited number of candidates:

Details are set out in the procurement documents (Information Memorandum and Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ)).

Time of receipt of tenders: 12:00
Date of dispatch of invitations: 2021-03-08 📅
Languages in which tenders or requests to participate may be submitted: English 🗣️
Irish 🗣️
Tender validity period: 24 months

Contracting authority
Contact
Contact point: Noam Chebaye
Address of the buyer profile: https://rte-france.bravosolution.com 🌏
Contact point: Anthony Flood
Phone: +353 12370123 📞
E-mail: anthony.flood@eirgrid.com 📧
Internet address: http://www.rte-france.com 🌏
Documents URL: https://rte-france.bravosolution.com 🌏

Reference
Additional information

Governing Law: the competition for the Cable EPC contract is being conducted in accordance with Irish law, including the European Union (Award of Contracts by Utility Undertakings) Regulations 2016 (S.I. No 286 of 2016) (as amended). The courts of Ireland shall have exclusive jurisdiction in relation to any disputes arising from the procurement documents and/or the Competition generally.

The Cable EPC Contract should it be awarded, shall be governed principally by the laws of France. The mandatory laws of other applicable jurisdictions may also apply in certain respects.

+ 13 more

The maintenance contract(s) will provide for a range of maintenance services to be provided by the contractor over a period of years; the maintenance requirements associated with EirGrid’s assets and RTE’s assets may vary.

Time: interested parties should note (in particular in relation to Section IV.2.2) that references to time in this notice are to Central European Time

NDA: Interested parties wishing to participate in the pre-qualification process must request to participate via the dedicated platform. In order to protect certain confidential information, each Candidate (or the lead Candidate Member, where a Candidate is a group or consortium) will be required to enter into a mutual Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) prior to receiving the Information Memorandum and Pre-Qualification Questionnaire. Please contact the Contacting Entity via https://rte-france.bravosolution.com (RFI number 19637) in order to obtain a copy of the NDA. The NDA shall be returned signed to the Contracting Entity within 5 working days of receipt. The NDA is not negotiable.

Costs: the contracting entity will not be responsible for any costs, charges or expenses incurred by any party as a result of participating in the competition. All costs associated with participation are solely the responsibility of the participants, including where the competition is terminated or abandoned. Candidates submitting documents in languages other than English may be asked to translate and resubmit documents at their own expense.

Award: any contract award will be subject to the approval of the competent authorities.

Termination of competition: at its absolute discretion, the Contracting Entity may elect to terminate this competition at any time and without incurring any liability.

Value: the value specified in sections II.1.5) and II.2.6) above is an estimate of the value of the Cable Link EPC Contract; the actual value may be higher or lower. It does not include the value of any associated maintenance contract(s) that may be required. It is currently anticipated that any associated maintenance contracts could be valued in the range of EUR 5 million to EUR 15 million. This range does not include repair costs which will have additional value. If separate maintenance contracts are concluded by EirGrid and RTE, these may each be of different value.

Duration: the duration of 60 months specified in section II.2.7) above is an estimate of the duration of the construction phase of the Cable Link EPC Contract; the actual duration may be longer or shorter. This estimate does not include any defects liability or warranty period which may apply. It also does not include the duration of any associated maintenance contract(s) that may be required; it is currently anticipated that any such contract(s) may be of 5-15 years in duration and may be subject to renewal. If separate contracts are concluded by EirGrid and RTE, these may each be of different duration.

Anticipated timetable for the competition

Candidates should note the anticipated timetable for the competition is as follows:

Deadline for submission of expression of interest: No later than 12.00 (CET) on 9 November 2020

Deadline for submission of queries/requests from candidates: no later than 12:00 hrs (cet) on 9 November 2020

Closing date and time for pre-qualification submissions to be submitted by candidates: No later than 12.00 (CET) on 30 November 2020.

Complementary information
Review body
Name: The High Court Four Courts
Postal town: Dublin
Postal code: 7
Country: Ireland 🇮🇪
Phone: +353 18886000 📞
Internet address: http://www.courts.ie/ 🌏
Information about review deadlines:

The contracting entity will not conclude this contract to which a standstill period applies in accordance with European Communities (Award of Contracts by Utility Undertakings) (Review Procedures) Regulations 2010) (SI 131 of 2010), until after the expiry of the standstill period which commences on the day following the date of notification on concerned candidates and tenderers. SI I31 of 2010 provides that review procedures are available in the Irish High Court to a person who has or has had an interest in obtaining the reviewable contract and alleges that he or she has been harmed or is at risk of being harmed by an infringement of the law in relation in such contract. The time limits for application to the High Court are set out in SI 131 of 2010.

All candidates should make themselves familiar with Irish Statutory Instrument SI 131 of 2010, and obtain their own independent legal advice in respect of Irish review procedures.

Source: OJS 2020/S 197-477840 (2020-10-05)

Contract award notice (2022-12-20)
Object
Scope of the procurement
Short description:

The Celtic Electrical Interconnector FR-IR Project is being developed as a 700 MW, 320 kV VSC HVDC link between the French and Irish transmissions systems. This HVDC link is composed of one circuit, comprised of two power cables and two converter stations. The link is approximately 575 km long, of which the offshore element comprises approximately 500 km. The converter stations are currently anticipated to be located close to the 400 kV La Martyre substation (France) and the Knockraha 400 kV substation in Co. Cork (Ireland). The project is supported by the European Union’s Connecting Europe facility (CEF). A separate contract award notice will be published for an EPC Contract relating to the design, manufacture, delivery, installation, commissioning and maintenance of the converter station.

Total value of the procurement: 770 505 504 EUR 💰
Notice metadata
Document type: Contract award notice

Procedure
Type of bid: Not applicable
Award criteria
Lowest price

Contracting authority
Identity
Awarding authority name: CIDAC - Celtic Interconnector Designated Activity Company Contact

Reference
Dates
Date dispatched: 2022-12-20 📅
Publication date: 2022-12-23 📅
Identifiers
Notice number: 2022/S 248-719231
Refers to notice: 2020/S 197-477840
OJ-S issue: 248
Additional information

Governing Law: The competition for the Cable EPC contract is being conducted in accordance with Irish law, including the European Union (Award of Contracts by Utility Undertakings) Regulations 2016 (S.I. No. 286 of 2016) (as amended). The courts of Ireland shall have exclusive jurisdiction in relation to any disputes arising from the procurement documents and/or the Competition generally. The Cable EPC Contract shall be governed principally by the laws of France. The mandatory laws of other applicable jurisdictions may also apply in certain respects.

Object
Scope of the procurement
Short description:

A separate contract award notice will be published for an EPC Contract relating to the design, manufacture, delivery, installation, commissioning and maintenance of the converter station.

+ 1 more

Description of options: -Remedial grace length
-Supply and delivery of FOCS Maintenance and Test Equipment

+ 1 more

-Fibres are installed for the entire route length and are used only for cable monitoring purposes (DTS/DAS)

Name of EU-financed project or programme: Celtic Electrical Interconnector FR-IR - Connecting Europe Facility programme - Trans-European Energy (TEN)
Place of performance
Main site or place of performance:

County Cork in Ireland, Celtic sea between Ireland and France–Finistère Department (near Brest) in France

Procedure
Applicable procurement law:

The applicable national procurement law is Irish law, principally the European Union (Award of Contracts by Utility Undertakings) Regulations 2016 (SI No 286 of 2016)

Award of contract
Date of contract conclusion: 2022-11-24 📅
Name: NEXANS Norway AS
Postal town: Oslo
Country: Norway 🇳🇴
Total value of the procurement: 770 505 504 EUR 💰

Contracting authority
Contact
Contact point: Sarah Crowe
E-mail: sarah.crowe@eirgrid.com 📧

Reference
Additional information

The Cable EPC Contract shall be governed principally by the laws of France. The mandatory laws of other applicable jurisdictions may also apply in certain respects.

Source: OJS 2022/S 248-719231 (2022-12-20)

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