South East Strategic Resource Options (SESRO) Preliminary Market Engagement 2025​

Tender description

As part of Thames Water's ongoing programme of preliminary market engagement for the South East Strategic Reservoir Option (SESRO) project, this notice is intended to inform interested parties about upcoming engagement opportunities and to encourage them to register their interest to participate. Please note that this is not a call for competition. Contractors and investors are invited to express their interest in participating in a series of engagement activities including a spring market engagement event scheduled for 17th March 2025, to be held at a central London venue. The engagement will help develop a wider understanding of the delivery of the project from both a construction and investment perspective by showcasing two large scale future opportunities: Infrastructure Provider (IP): The IP will be responsible for taking forward the design, building, and financing the majority of assets within the SESRO project. Main Works Contractor (MWC): To construct and commission the assets under a target price contract, working initially with TW and then the IP once the IP contract is awarded. This engagement presents an opportunity for Thames Water to collaborate with the market in refining its procurement approach and contracting terms. Additionally, it aims to encourage cross-party discussions that align the project's development with market trends, taking into account the perspectives of both MWCs and investors. To access the link to register your interest in market engagement for SESRO, please refer to Section VI.3 Additional Information. Lot 1: Meeting the water resource supply-demand balance to ensure resilient supplies during droughts is becoming ever more challenging with increasing pressures from climate change, population growth, societal expectations and increasing environmental aspirations. In response, OFWAT has established RAPID comprising the three water industry regulators: Ofwat, the Environment Agency and Drinking Water Inspectorate - to support and oversee the development of SROs in order to secure long-term drought resilience on behalf of customers while protecting the environment and benefiting wider society. The South East Strategic Reservoir Option (SESRO) is a new storage reservoir which would be sited in the Upper Thames catchment, south-west of Abingdon in Oxfordshire. SESRO is envisaged as a regional asset and is being developed by Thames Water on behalf of three water companies - Thames Water, Affinity Water and Southern Water. The reservoir would be filled with water pumped from the River Thames during periods of high river flow. When river levels drop, or demand for water increases, water would be released under gravity back into the River Thames, for re-abstraction downstream. The reservoir would help to protect supplies and manage future water quality issues created by a changing climate as well as offering regional and local benefits, including environmental and biodiversity improvements and public access and recreation. The project involves construction of the new bunded reservoir with a capacity of up to 150Mm3 and a surface area of approximately 7km2. The reservoir is needed to be operational by 2040. To read more about the SESRO project, please visit the following link: https://thames-wrmp.co.uk/projects/sesro/ Additional information: The CPV codes set out in this PIN are included to give an indication of the likely scope of works and services. TWUL does not guarantee that all the activities referenced by the CPV codes will form part of any future tender notice(s), nor is the list exhaustive of all activities which may be included in any procurement process under this project.