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3 to 5 Nov 2026
Thames Water Utilities Limited, the water and wastewater company serving London and the Thames Valley, has gone to tender for its Future Smart Metering Programme with a total estimated value of £1.584 billion including VAT, according to WaterBriefing, which reported the notice on 3 November 2026. The contract is split into two lots: £1.38 billion for new and replacement meter installation and operation, and £204 million for connectivity and data services on the existing smart meter estate.
The programme is estimated to run from 1 April 2028 to 31 March 2035, with provisions to extend as far as 31 March 2050. Requests to participate close at 12:00 noon on 4 December 2026, and Thames Water’s estimated award decision date is 20 September 2027.
Lot 1: Meter Supply, Installation and Customer Contact Under One Supplier
Lot 1 covers new and replacement meter installation and operation, delivered end to end under what Thames Water calls a “Smart Connected Customer as a Service” model. One supplier will be selected for the lot, and the scope spans customer contact, meter supply and installation, communications networks, meter repair and maintenance, and the operation of data, workforce and customer management systems.
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That bundles activities that water companies have typically procured separately, such as the meters themselves, the field workforce, and the network that carries readings back to the utility. Thames Water retains ownership of all data, including customer data, so the supplier operates the systems but does not hold the data asset.
The initial award term runs to the end of AMP9, the water industry regulatory period that follows the current AMP8 (2025 to 2030), with provisions that allow extension into later periods, up to and including AMP12.
Lot 2: Keeping the Legacy Estate Connected While It Is Replaced
Lot 2, worth £204 million including VAT, concerns connectivity and data services for the legacy smart meters already in the field. Its scope includes network operation, firmware maintenance and support for the transition to Lot 1, and one supplier will again be chosen.
The tender documents describe this contract as shrinking in value over time as legacy meters are replaced, which gives it a different commercial profile from Lot 1: a declining run-off contract alongside a long-term service contract. The two lots will interact, since Lot 2’s supplier must support the handover of meters to Lot 1’s.
Thames Water already has smart metering activity in place. In November 2024 the company announced deals for more than a million smart meters in a £50 million agreement, according to Thames Water’s own announcement, and Kurrantly reported a £180 million smart meter award by the utility. The new tender is far larger than either, and it replaces the earlier approach of buying equipment and services in separate packages with a single outcome-based contract per lot.
Procurement Procedure and Timeline
Thames Water is using a competitive flexible procedure with a Procurement Specific Questionnaire. The questionnaire has four sections: supplier information, exclusions, conditions of participation covering legal, financial and technical criteria, and a scored technical ability section. Initial screening covers data protection, financial analysis, health and safety, and insurance.
Up to five bidders per lot will be invited to the Invitation to Negotiate stage, and up to four of those will be invited to present to a review panel before best and final offers. Evaluation focuses on fair value, delivery competence and innovation. The process runs on the SAP Ariba Sourcing platform, and enquiries close at 5:00pm on 23 November 2026.
An award on 20 September 2027 would leave about six months between the decision and the 1 April 2028 start, which is the window for mobilising crews, systems and communications infrastructure for the largest lot.
Market Context: A Long-Dated Contract for a Utility Under Financial Pressure
The contract is a tender notice rather than a commitment, and it lands while Thames Water’s finances and regulatory standing are under scrutiny. Thames Water had earlier decided to stop a Green Recovery smart metering programme because its costs were set to be unrecoverable, according to The Water Report, which is relevant background for bidders assessing the programme’s funding certainty.
For suppliers, the commercial structure matters as much as the headline value: a single supplier per lot, a term that can stretch to 2050, and a service model in which the utility owns the data. Bidders will have to price both the capital-intensive installation phase and the multi-decade operating phase.
The first test of the programme comes at the shortlist stage, when no more than five bidders per lot are invited to negotiate after the 4 December 2026 deadline, and the composition of those shortlists will show whether metering manufacturers, installation contractors or communications operators lead the consortia that Thames Water expects to bid for Lot 1.
