Thames Water has taken significant strides in advancing a large-scale £840 million infrastructure improvement initiative targeting nine water and sewage treatment sites across London, Surrey, Oxfordshire, and Hertfordshire. This programme is a key component of its broader investment plans scheduled between 2025 and 2030, reflecting the utility’s commitment to nearly doubling its infrastructure investment as part of a transformative turnaround strategy aimed at enhancing service delivery and environmental performance.
The company has published a Preliminary Market Engagement Notice (PMEN) to formally invite potential contractors to participate in this ambitious programme, with the objective of signing agreements by March 2026. These initial contracts will cover a tranche of ten vital projects, including upgrades to sewage treatment plants such as Riverside, Beckton, Crossness, Didcot, Wantage, Bicester, and Hogsmill, alongside water treatment sites like Ashford and Hampton, where ultraviolet treatment enhancements will be implemented.
The scope of these projects is designed to tackle multiple objectives: increasing treatment capacities, improving water quality, reducing pollution incidences, and boosting bioenergy generation from sewage sludge. For instance, Beckton Sewage Treatment Works is earmarked for sludge-powered generator replacements and water asset assurance programmes, reflecting the utility’s focus on sustainability and resilience.
This £840 million programme forms part of Thames Water’s extensive £20 billion infrastructure investment plan extending through to 2030, which encompasses not only capital expenditure on physical assets but also professional services and engineering support. Recently, Thames Water concluded a £400 million procurement of an Asset, Capital, and Engineering Professional Services framework. This framework includes major industry players such as AECOM, Arcadis, Jacobs, Mott MacDonald, Stantec, and Turner & Townsend, among others—indicative of the scale and complexity of the investment required.
The framework aims to address urgent challenges facing the water sector, including ageing infrastructure and climate change resilience, by fostering greater supplier collaboration and embedding best practice learnings across delivery partners. Speaking on Thames Water’s approach, the Major Projects and Programmes Director emphasised the long-term relationship-building intent: “By engaging now with the market, our aim is to reduce unnecessary bidding effort and foster long-term, collaborative partnerships with trusted delivery partners.”
Additionally, the Commercial & Procurement Director highlighted the framework’s role in accelerating landmark projects and enhancing innovation: “The Major Project Framework will accelerate landmark projects and lets us build strong, lasting partnerships with suppliers to unlock deeper collaboration and push boundaries on innovation.”
Contracts procured under the Major Projects Framework are expected to run from March 2026 to March 2033, with a potential extension to mid-2035, signalling Thames Water’s commitment to a sustained investment cycle well beyond the immediate AMP8 period (2025-2030). This sustained focus is crucial given the strategic imperative to maintain and upgrade ageing assets while tackling increasing regulatory and environmental demands.
Thames Water’s approach appears comprehensive, blending infrastructure upgrades with a strategic procurement framework designed to reduce supplier risks and promote excellence through collaboration. This is reinforced by concurrent appointments of professional services firms, such as Turner & Townsend and Stantec, providing both commercial assurance and technical expertise. These partnerships are essential to ensuring that Thames Water’s ambitious capital programmes can be delivered effectively, managing complexities arising from climate change and evolving customer expectations.
In sum, Thames Water’s accelerated investment plans underscore a critical phase of renewal for one of the UK’s largest water providers. Through robust engagement with innovative suppliers and strategic framework agreements, the company is positioning itself to deliver substantial infrastructure improvements, enhance environmental outcomes, and ensure resilient service provision well into the future.
Source: Noah Wire Services
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