The Organisation

Western Power is a Western Australian State Government owned corporation which is responsible for building, maintaining and operating an electricity network which connects over 1.1 million customers to traditional and renewable energy sources.

Problem Statement

Western Power has an existing Contract for the Supply of Wood Poles supporting Western Power SWIN (South West Interconnected Network) which consists of 674,000 deployed poles (distribution – 633,000 and transmission 41,000) and connects Customers to Western Power’s network. Western Power is looking for Suppliers willing to manage the storage, supply, and delivery of poles across this network for the upcoming 10 years.

The Scope

Over the next 10 years in line with the current 10-year Network Plan, Western Power will be installing new poles to either replace existing assets or deploy new assets on the network for approximately 9,000 poles per annum.

The offered solution will need to be able to provide the following capabilities supporting the SWIN:

• A storage facility in the Perth or nearby regional areas which can be used to store sufficient available capacity to allow for stock levels of at least 12 months (with a buffer of 20%) based on forecast pole requirements
• The ability to manage logistics to all parts of the SWIN, delivering to site in a timely manner
• The ability to support emergency services as and when required and provide onsite support in storage of poles and logistics to site
• Management of a 24 hour helpline where Western Power can contact the Supplier for emergency services
• Reverse Logistics services removing a pole from site and returning to stock or a depot as required

The solution(s) could comprise of:

• Wood poles either softwood or hardwood in line with the approved species in Western Power specification
• Steel Poles which meet the requirement of the attached generic specification meeting the required standard configurations
• Poles made from other materials which may be considered by Western Power
• Or a mixture of any of the above solutions

Any alternative materials proposed (other than wood) will need to meet the underlying technical requirements as specified in the Technical Specification attached.

Registration Requirements

Suppliers are required to respond to the following for the ROI submission:

Demonstrate track record and capability in delivering the solution in relation to the high-level Scope requirements stated above.
References from at least three customers who have been offered similar services.
Safety, Health & Environment information to be requested as part of this exercise.
Western Power will review and evaluate the registration received against the Scope requirements. If successful, the shortlisted registrants may then be progressed and invited to submit a Request for Proposal.