23/006 - NI Network Balancing Gas

AI-generated analysis of the documents. Check the official notice and any amendments for current submission details.

1. At a glance

2. Scope of Work

Gas Networks Ireland ran this procurement for “23/006 - NI Network Balancing Gas” as an operational contract requiring implementation and sustained service execution. The extracted pack showed qualification-stage material with references to later ITT technical depth; practical activity therefore centred on building, integrating, and operating the specified service stack with compliant reporting and handover obligations where stated. Constituent activities and named work elements in the supplied extracts:

• ct Sale Nomination on the Delphi System within 30 minutes of receiving a Contract Sale Nomination, confirming the Contract Nominated Quantity (“Confi
• urchase Nomination on the Delphi System within 30 minutes of receiving a Contract Purchase Nomination confirming the Contract Nominated Quantity (“Co
• ANNEX 5 HISTORIC SYSTEM BUY / SELL TRANSACTIONS 48
• [23_006 NI Networks Balancing Gas ITT .docx] UK)”), Premier Transmission Limited (“PTL”), Belfast Gas Transmission Limited (“BGTL”) and West Transmission Limited (“WTL”) and any Tenderer. Gas Networks Ireland on behalf of GNI (UK) shall not be obliged to enter into a contract with any Tenderer. No legal relationship or other obligation (save for each Tenderer’s irrevocable obligation to keep its tender(s) open for the prescribed period) shall arise between the Tenderer and Gas Networks Ireland on behalf of GNI (UK) unless and until framework agreements in relation to the services which are the subject of this competition (each a “Framework Agreement”) (and related Balancing Gas Contracts) have been formally executed in writing by GNI (UK) and the successful Tenderers in this competition or a letter of acceptance in writing has been issued by Gas Networks Ireland on behalf of GNI (UK) to the Tenderer and any conditions precedent to the effectiveness of such document have been fulfilled.
• [23_006 NI Networks Balancing Gas ITT .docx] Northern Ireland’s requirement for Balancing Gas Services (Balancing Gas Sell and Balancing Gas Buy) is being tendered by GNI (UK) for the period from 1st October 2023 until 30th September 2024 on behalf of GNI (UK), PTL, BGTL, & WTL (together the “NI Network Operators”).
• The SNIP, BGTP and the WTP jointly form the Premier Transmission Pipeline System (“PTPS”). PTL, BGTL and WTL are owned by Mutual Energy Limited (“MEL”). GNI (UK) owns and operates two natural gas transmission pipelines in Northern Ireland. The North-West gas pipeline, from Carrickfergus to Londonderry, serves Coolkeeragh power station in Derry and enabled the development of gas networks along the route. The South- North gas pipeline runs from Gormanston, in County Meath, to Ballyclare, Co. Antrim, where it links into the North-West pipeline.
• The requirement for any balancing action is determined by network conditions in accordance with the “Joint Balancing Procedures” as defined in the System Operator Agreement (SOA) and as agreed between PTL and GNI (UK) from time to time. As PTL operates the PTL, BGTL and WTL assets, it is party to the Joint Balancing Procedures on behalf of those operators.
• NI Shippers are incentivised to balance their own system inputs and outputs in a balancing (entry-exit) zone, using such traded markets where possible.
• [23_006 NI Networks Balancing Gas ITT .docx] Given the very small size of the market, extremely limited NIBP trading to date, and the need to ensure that balancing action does actually result in a physical change to gas flows on the system, the NI Network Operators do not consider that it is appropriate at this stage to transfer all of their balancing requirements exclusively to the Trading Point. They therefore propose to continue to utilise an entry specific contract as well.
• Contract Type Requirement: Registered, or registration completed by Wednesday 5th July 2023, at the Trading Point under the Single Code Requirement: Registered, or registration completed by Wednesday 5th July 2023, as a Shipper under National Grid’s Network Code Requirement: Registered, or registration completed by Wednesday 5th July 2023, as a Shipper under the Single Code and be registered under the ROI Code of Operations Requirement: Access to and use of the PRISMA platform
• 1A: NIBP Primary Balancing Gas Buy (with physical delivery via the Moffat IP) = (((Daily Capacity Charges) + (GB OCM Price) + (GB OCM Transaction Fee) + (Non-Transmission Services Exit Charge) + (Exit Revenue Recovery Charge) + (x)) * Contract Purchase Quantity) + Cost Per Annum
• 1B: Locational (Moffat) Primary Balancing Gas Buy = (((Daily Capacity Charges) + (GB OCM Price) + (GB OCM Transaction Fee) + (Non-Transmission Services Exit Charge) + (Exit Revenue Recovery Charge) + (x)) * Contract Purchase Quantity) + Cost Per Annum

3. Background & buyer context

The buyer context reflected a formal Irish public-procurement route, with pre-qualification used to control entry into the tender stage.

• 2. Background to Requirements 6
• The objective of the selection process is to ensure that only Tenderers who meet certain criteria and in particular possess the skills, experience, expertise, and resources to handle and service the Balancing Gas Sell Contract and/or Balancing Gas Buy Contract required by the NI Network Operators will be allowed to compete at the next stage.

4. Eligibility & selection criteria

• Turnover requirement — not specified for this tender
• Insurance — not specified for this tender
• Certifications — not specified for this tender
• Past experience — not specified for this tender
• Personnel — not specified for this tender
• Geographic / facility constraints — not specified for this tender

5. Award criteria & scoring

6. Submission requirements

• Method statement / response document (template/page limits) — not specified in extract.
• CVs (page count, named roles) — not specified in extract.
• Pricing schedule (format/template) — expected at ITT stage.
• Case studies (number/value range) — client references/comparable project evidence was referenced.
• Declarations (ESPD/Bona Fides/Tax/COI) — not specified in extract.
• Mandatory site visit — not specified in extract.
• Submission portal and formatting — eTenders portal and PDF electronic copies were referenced. Submission-related source lines:
• Value: not disclosed (eTenders placeholder)
• Gas Networks Ireland on behalf of GNI (UK) and its professional advisors will bear no liability whatsoever to anyone arising out of the issue of this ITT, participation or non-participation in the competition for any Lot or the conduct of any such competition generally, and for the avoidance of doubt, shall not be liable for any costs or losses incurred howsoever arising in connection with the competition including, without limitation, any loss of profit or other economic loss incurred. Any and all liability is expressly disclaimed and excluded to the maximum extent permissible by law. The laws of Northern Ireland are applicable to this document. The courts of Northern Ireland shall have exclusive jurisdiction in relation to any disputes arising from this document and the competition and by participating in the competition, each Tenderer submits irrevocably to that jurisdiction.
• [23_006 NI Networks Balancing Gas ITT .docx] Tenderers are invited to submit one (1) Tender, per contract type, in each of the three (3) Lots. The Tender submission requires a base price for each Balancing Gas Contract the Tenderer wishes to bid for. In addition, Tenderers have the option to submit a discounted price, for each Balancing Gas Contract, should the Tenderer be awarded that Balancing Gas Contract in combination with one or more other contracts.
• [23_006 NI Networks Balancing Gas ITT .docx] There are two (2) Balancing Gas Contract types (1A and 1B). Tenderers may submit 1 Tender for NIBP and / or 1 Tender for Moffat. A maximum of 2 tenders for Lot 1 is permitted. It is acceptable for Tenderers to submit only one (1) Tender for Lot 1 if desired e.g., Lot 1A only or Lot 1B only.
• [23_006 NI Networks Balancing Gas ITT .docx] There is only one Balancing Gas Contract type in Lot 2 and one Balancing Gas Contract type in Lot 3. Therefore, Tenderers may submit a maximum of one (1) Tender for each of these Lots.
• [23_006 NI Networks Balancing Gas ITT .docx] Tenderers are asked to complete the Pricing Submission excel workbook, provided as part of this ITT, in order to state their component costs and for the purposes of evaluation by GNI (UK) in the pricing assessment.

7. Key dates & process

8. Contract terms that matter

Contract duration in the extract: not stated. Payment cycle, SLA/KPI schedule, and penalty regime were not fully disclosed in the snippets unless listed below.

• VERIFIED PHRASES (deterministic regex extract from the documents — treat as authoritative for numerical claims)
• Confirmation that for each of the following buy contract a minimum of 5,000,000 kWh can be accommodated, and volumes will not be the subject of multiple contracts: * Lot 1: Contract 1A NIBP Primary Balancing Gas Buy (with physical delivery via the Moffat IP) –
• Please confirm: [Yes/No] Confirmation that for the following sell contract a minimum of 2,000,000 kWh can be accommodated, and volumes will not be the subject of multiple contracts: * Lot 3 - Contract 3 Non-Locational Balancing Gas Sell – Please confirm: [Yes/No]
• Under no circumstances shall the Framework Member be entitled to any payment or compensation for loss of profit consequent on such
• Under no circumstances shall a Framework Member be entitled to any payment or compensation for loss of profit consequent on such
• 1 This Agreement shall commence on 30 September 2023 and, subject to earlier termination in accordance with clause 11 or extension i
• od and terminate automatically at 05:00 on 01 October 2024
• end the term of this Agreement to 05:00 on 01 October 2025 by serving notice

9. Risks, red flags & unusuals

• Numeric qualification gates were only partially visible, so eligibility certainty required full pack review.
• Contract value was not disclosed in metadata, creating uncertainty on margin, resourcing, and financing assumptions.
• The two-step process (PQQ then ITT) shifted effort to compliance evidence early, with competitive scoring detail potentially deferred.
• Technical and contractual granularity appeared ITT-dependent, increasing ambiguity at qualification stage for non-incumbent bidders.

10. SME fit assessment

This competition looked most accessible to firms with established public-sector tender capability, documented financial capacity, and direct operational experience in the relevant service category.

• Credible bidder profile — specialist operator with compliant procurement governance and evidencable experience.
• Consortium / sub-contracting — not clearly specified in extract.
• Indicative bid-prep effort — 6 to 12 working days for evidence collation, form completion, and review cycles at PQQ level.
• Pwin signal — strongest for bidders with reusable qualification artefacts, comparable references, and low-friction mobilisation capability.

11. Where to dig deeper

• Source RFT/PQQ filenames: 23_006 NI Networks Balancing Gas ITT .docx, ITT .docx] , ITT) FOR THE.
• eTenders CFT / notice reference: not specified in extract.
• Clarification contact / portal: eTenders message portal (email not surfaced in extract).
• Key attachments to prioritise: ITT .docx] 1. Overview of Evaluation Process 12, ITT .docx] ](#_bookmark31), Schedule of Events 24](#_bookmark37).