United Utilities, a water and wastewater service provider in North West England, has chosen the Strabag Equitix Consortium as the preferred bidder for the Haweswater Aqueduct Resilience Programme (HARP) in the UK.
This project involves designing, building, financing, and maintaining six tunnel sections of the Haweswater Aqueduct, ensuring a resilient water supply for future generations.
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The tender process for HARP began in May 2022, with United Utilities shortlisting three consortia in November 2022.
The shortlisted groups were HARP Community Connectors, More Water, and the Strabag Equitix Consortium.
HARP Community Connectors consisted of Acciona, Dragados, and Iridium; More Water comprised FCC Construcción, SNC-Lavalin, FCC Aqualia, Webuild, and BeMo Tunnelling, and Strabag Equitix Consortium features Equitix and Strabag
After a competitive evaluation, the Strabag Equitix Consortium emerged as the preferred bidder to form the competitively appointed provider.
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By GlobalDataThe original Haweswater Aqueduct, completed in the 1950s, supplies water from the Lake District to communities in Cumbria, Lancashire, and Greater Manchester.
The project will replace six tunnel sections along the 110km route, ensuring continued delivery of quality drinking water. The estimated construction cost has risen to £2.5bn-£2.9bn ($3.12bn-$3.62bn) from the initial £1.75bn announced in 2022.
HARP is set to be one of the largest water infrastructure projects in North West England.
HARP will be implemented using a ‘direct procurement for customers’ model, marking the first time this approach has been applied in the UK water sector.
This approach aims to provide the best value for customers. The procurement process is in its final stage of financial close, with contract award planned for the first half of 2025, pending approval from national water regulator Ofwat.
United Utilities Transformation and Strategic Programmes director Neil Gillespie said: “This is a significant milestone in our journey to replace the Haweswater Aqueduct tunnels so that we can continue to provide customers in the North West with a reliable supply of quality drinking water into the future.
“This is the culmination of a lot of hard work from a dedicated team, and we are really pleased to have now established our preferred bidder.”
In June 2024, United Utilities announced 18 new design-and-build partners to support its £2.75bn environmental programme in North West England, aimed at reducing storm overflow activations and upgrading water and wastewater treatment plants.
