Spanish-led team picked for Femernbelt tech

Client Femern has appointed SICE-Cobra, a Spanish-led consortium supported by US, Swedish, New Zealand and Australian companies.

Operation of the Fehmarnbelt Tunnel is to be CO₂-neutral, which calls for systems to manage energy consumption. The electrical installations are among the biggest components of the 18km-long tunnel

The job of fitting the tunnel with advanced equipment and technology is worth about £450m. The assignment covers ventilation, lighting and safety systems, and was advertised as a design and build contract.

“This contract is crucial to our ambition for the Fehmarnbelt Tunnel to be the green transport corridor of the future,” said Femern technical director Jens Ole Kaslund. “All bidders submitted top-quality tenders which met our requirements for expertise and qualifications, but the chosen consortium submitted the best bid in terms of price and quality.” 

The procurement procedure started in spring 2021 with a prequalification stage in which three consortia submitted their initial tenders for negotiation in November.

Femern said that, due to a very good negotiating offer from SICE-Cobra, it decided to proceed directly to the contract award process.

“We are building a tunnel which will not only run on 100% renewable energy but will also use the electricity supplied as efficiently as possible. The design and build contractor is required to deliver the right technical solutions for the opening in 2029 and to adapt the installations to the green technologies of the future,” said Kaslund.

As with the other major contracts on the Fehmarnbelt project, the consortium is expected to use a large number of sub-contractors. There is also a requirement for the contractors to employ apprentices.

SICE-Cobra comprises:

• Sociedad Ibérica de Construcciones Eléctricas (SICE), Spain;
• SICE Tecnología y Sistemas, Spain;
• Cobra Instalaciones y Servicios, Spain;
• Moncobra, Spain.

The supporting entities are:

Cobra Instalaciones y Servicios Internacional, Spain;

• SICE, USA;
• SICE Nordics, Sweden;
• SICE NZ, New Zealand;
• SICE, Australia.

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