National Energy System Operation (NESO), has awarded an interim capability agreement to Palantir Technologies UK Limited (Palantir) for continued licencing and support for Connections and Skip Rate related activities. A redacted copy of the signed contract will be made available within 90 days of signature.

Procurement Act 2023

Direct award It was considered that the contract can be awarded directly in accordance Section 41 of the Procurement Act 2023 paragraph 6 (absence of competition for technical reasons) of Schedule 5. NESO currently runs two critical business processes - Connections and Skip Rates using the Palantir Foundry platform which is underpinned by proprietary architecture licensed exclusively by Palantir, Palantir possesses the specialist knowledge, technical expertise and the system knowledge required to maintain and support the solution effectively. Transitioning to an alternative supplier is not possible without significant cost, resource commitment and delivery risk to meet regulatory obligations. It would require the replacement of or significant redevelopment of the current data analytics environment, including migration of data, security accreditation of the replacement solution to the required standards, and training of NESO personnel. This contract has been put in place to enable continuity of the existing critical platform services whilst a competitive procurement is undertaken. A Pre-Market Engagement notice for the strategic modelling capability has been published. Disruption to the platform or associated services would impact the operational continuity of NESO's customer facing services and NESO's ability to fulfil regulatory requirements.

Utilities