Participation in Open Tenders for the Purchase of Energy Services

To win Prozorro tenders, at first the supplier of goods, services, or works needs to learn how to participate in them – to start using the instrument of their victory.

 

What Is the Purchase of Energy Services

Energy service is a set of measures aimed at saving money by increasing the efficiency of energy use. Such measures can include the renewal of the heating or lighting systems, insulation of buildings, etc.

 

Purchases of energy services are carried out according to public procurement procedures by the procedure established by the Law of Ukraine "On Public Procurement" for the purchase of services, taking into account the features established by the Law "On the introduction of new investment opportunities, guaranteeing the rights and legitimate interests of business entities for large-scale energy modernization".

 

The concept of the energy service consists of the fact that energy-efficient measures in the buildings of budget institutions are implemented by private investors – energy service companies (ESCOs). At the same time, ESCO, investing its funds, bears financial risks, takes full responsibility for the quality of work, and is interested in maximum cost savings for the payment of utility services.

 

The customer, for their part, pays for these services not at their own expense, but at the expense of saving energy resources, achieved as a result of the implementation of energy-efficient measures by such companies.

 

Purchases of energy services are carried out by applying the open bidding procedure or the negotiated procurement procedure. The negotiated procurement procedure is used exclusively in the case provided for in paragraph 1 of part 2 of Article 40 of the Law of Ukraine "On Public Procurement" (open auctions (including by lot) that were canceled twice due to the lack of offers).

 

The energy service procurement procedure is carried out in four stages:

1. 1. Acceptance of offers – the period for submission of tender offers by participants.
   2. Prequalification – at this stage, the customer examines the tender offers for compliance with the technical requirements specified in the tender documentation, determines the participants' compliance with the qualification criteria, and decides which of the suppliers to admit to the auction. The term of prequalification does not exceed 20 working days. The procedure is considered unsuccessful and canceled by the system automatically if less than two suppliers were admitted (qualified) to the auction.
   3. Auction – conducting an auction in the form of a process of increasing the efficiency of the energy service contract and announcing the results.
   4. Qualification – determination of the winner, conclusion, and execution of the contract.

 

Any supplier who can offer the subject of procurement with appropriate characteristics and is not subject to disqualification by the requirements of the Law "On Public Procurement" can take part in the first two stages. Only those suppliers who were approved by the customer can participate in the third stage.

 

Participation in an Open Tender for the Purchase of Energy Services on the SmartTender

The procedure for participating in an open tender for the purchase of energy services is more similar to the procedure for participating in an open tender with a publication in English. You can master its algorithm using our simple instructions.

 

The difference between the energy service procurement procedure and open tenders with publication in English

The main evaluation criterion during the auction in the procedure of open bidding for the purchase of energy service is the indicator of the efficiency of the energy service contract.

 

The efficiency indicator of the energy service contract is the total value of the discount in each interval of the differences between the customer's annual cost reductions and the annual payments to the energy service provider.

 

Discounting is carried out at the amount of the NBU accounting rate effective on the date of the announcement of the procedure for purchasing the energy service. A change in the value of the NBU rate is possible only during the period of clarifications and submission of proposals and is considered a change in the terms of purchase.

 

The winner is not the one who offers the lowest price, but the one who is guided by the highest savings ratio, calculated according to the efficiency formula.

 

Please note that only those users who have been identified can take part in the open tender for the purchase of energy services. For information on how to do this, read the instructions for identifying a Prozorro supplier.

 

Step # 1 – Login to Your Account

In order to take part in the open tender for the purchase of energy services, please log into your account on the SmartTender platform.

 

Click the "Login" button in the upper right corner of the page. Enter the data in the form and click the "Login" button (Fig. 1) or select "Authorize with QES/AES" or "Authorize with EHealth".

Fig. 1

 

If you don't have an account, you can create one by following our simple Prozorro registration guide.

 

Step # 2 – Finding a Suitable Tender

Go to the public procurement section of the SmartTender electronic trading platform. To do this, click on the corresponding item of the main menu on the main page of the site (Fig. 2).

 

Fig. 2

 

In the filter on the left, select in the "Type of bidding" section the item "Open procurement of energy services" (Fig. 3).

 

Fig. 3

 

To find a suitable tender, you can write the name of the proposed subject of bidding, the organizer's Unified State Register of enterprises and organizations of Ukraine code, or the procedure code in the search bar (Fig. 4).

 

For better results, use the other filters on the left. Then a smart search will return the most relevant results.

Fig. 4

 

Step #3 – Tender Documentation

If you have found a purchase that suits you, you can proceed immediately to apply for participation in the auction. However, before doing so, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with the detailed information about the purchase to know which documents are required by the auction organizer. This can be done by clicking on the name of the purchase (Fig. 5).

Fig. 5

 

A page with detailed information about the tender will open on the screen. In particular, tender documentation is located here – the most important procurement information that every Prozorro supplier needs. All the customer requirements are here.

 

You can download the tender documentation for detailed reading by clicking on the appropriate marks opposite the file names or the "Download all files" button (Fig. 6).

Fig. 6

 

Step #4 – Questions, Requirements and Complaints

At the stage "Acceptance of proposals", if necessary, you can ask a question about the conditions of the purchase (qualification requirements for the supplier or the subject of the purchase).

 

To ask the organizer a question, go to the "Questions" tab, select the subject of discussion and click "Ask a question" (Fig. 7).

 

Please note: You can apply for clarifications no later than 10 days before the end of the acceptance of proposals period.

Fig. 7

 

At the stage "Acceptance of proposals", you can leave a requirement/complaint about the terms of the purchase.

 

To leave a requirement to eliminate the violation or a complaint about the terms of the tender documentation, go to the "Requirements/complaints about the terms of the procurement" tab, select the subject of the appeal and click "Submit a request" or "Submit a complaint" (Fig. 8).

 

Please note: Claims can be submitted no later than 10 days before the end of the acceptance of proposals period, and complaints – no later than 4 days before the end of the acceptance of proposals period.

 

Fig. 8

 

If necessary, you can order a free legal consultation or full legal support from SmartTender specialists. To do this, click the "Legal assistance" button on the page of detailed information about the tender (Fig. 9).

 

Fig. 9

 

Step #5 – Submitting an Offer

Please note that participation in public procurement is paid for by suppliers (Prozorro tariffs). Therefore, you first need to top up your balance by clicking the "Create Account" button (Fig. 10).

Fig. 10

 

Read more about how to pay for participation in the auction in our instructions for topping up the Prozorro balance.

 

To take part in the procurement, click the "Submit offer" button and go to the page for submitting an offer (Fig. 11). This can also be done on the trade search page (Fig. 12).

Fig. 11

Fig. 12

 

Uploading the Files

The offer submission page will open on the screen. First of all, download the necessary documents by clicking the "Choose files" button. Their content and design must meet the requirements specified by the procurement organizer in the tender documentation (Fig. 13).

 

Please note: The file size must not exceed 49 MB.

Fig. 13

 

You can add the following types of documents:

1. 1. Technical specifications – a detailed description of the qualitative, quantitative, and technical characteristics of the subject of purchase.
   2. Documents that confirm the qualification – compliance of the supplier with the qualification criteria established in the tender documentation.
   3. Price offer – the price provided by the supplier for the entire volume of the purchase.
   4. Cost estimate – calculation of the cost of production of goods, a provision of services, or performance of works, by the requirements of the tender.
   5. Documents that confirm the compliance – the documentation that shows that the customer has no reason to reject the offer.

 

Please note: Each file you upload must be of the correct type, as the document containing the price quote and estimate should only open after the auction.

 

After downloading the documents, you can sign them with the QES/AES. To do this, click "Signing QES/AES files" (Fig. 14), select the required files, and click "Sign selected".

Fig. 14

 

After that, a pop-up window of QES/AES overlay will appear on the screen (Fig. 15). Download the signature file, enter the key protection password, and click the “Sign” button.

Fig. 15

 

You can also set the confidentiality of documents by restricting access to other providers for viewing. To do this, check the box next to the uploaded document and indicate the reason for confidentiality (Fig. 16).

 

Please note: Confidentiality setting is possible only for document types: specifications, estimate and price offer. Documents confirming compliance and qualifications are available for public viewing.

Fig. 16

 

If the Customer Applies Non-Price Criteria

The organizer can set additional quality factors for the evaluation of the offer, such as payment terms, term of work, warranty service, operating costs, etc., in addition to the performance indicator of the energy service contract, to determine the most economically advantageous tender offer.

 

Therefore, the main advantage of potential performers will be precisely the proposal to increase the customer's energy efficiency.

 

In the "Non-price indicators" block, you can view the level of purchase/lot/tender binding.

 

The organizer can define one or more non-price criteria, about which they apply the general weight and evaluation logic. The total weight of all non-price criteria of the offer cannot exceed 25%.

 

Non-price indicators must be specified when submitting an offer (Fig. 17).

Fig. 17

 

According to the received offers, the given energy service contract efficiency indicator is automatically calculated, which is used during the auction.

 

If the Customer Applies the Qualification Criteria

When creating a tender, the organizer specifies the criteria that the supplier must meet. The list of requirements is displayed on the page of detailed information about the tender/lot in a separate block "Electronic tender documentation" (1). To view the list of requirements (2) and the confirmation method, expand the list (3) (Fig. 18).

Fig. 18

 

Read more about the criteria in our article.

 

Information on reducing customer costs

After completing the above actions, click "+Participate" on the screen on the right (Fig. 19).

Fig. 19

 

Next, fill in the following information (Fig. 20):

1. 1. The term of the agreement cannot exceed 15 years, the minimum term is 1 day.
   2. A fixed percentage of annual payments in favor of the participant, %. Acceptable values: from 80 to 100% (in the case of financing at the expense of the supplier) and from 0 to 80% (in the case of co-financing from budget funds.
   3. Annual reduction of customer costs, hryvnias – an array of 21 elements, where the 1st element indicates savings for the period from the tender announcement date to the end of the calendar year (12/31).

Fig. 20

 

It is also possible to select "Manual allocation of customer cost reductions by period". To do this, put a checkmark opposite the corresponding item and fill in all the fields (Fig. 21).

Fig. 21

 

Or select "Automatic distribution of customer cost reduction by period" (Fig. 22).

Fig. 22

 

Based on the specified data, the following is automatically generated:

1. 1. IEC – an indicator of the energy efficiency of the energy service contract, calculated automatically as the total value of the customer's discounted income for each period of reduction of the customer's costs in monetary terms. IEC is calculated for 21 periods of cost reduction for the customer. The period is considered to be one calendar year. The specific weight of this criterion cannot be lower than 75% (that is, the sum of non-price indicators is no more than 25%).
   2. PES – the price of the energy service contract is calculated automatically as the total value of payments in favor of the participant during the period of validity of the offer.

 

Submission of Proposal

Be sure to put a check mark to confirm compliance with the qualification requirements (Fig. 23).

 

After completing all the steps, you can submit an offer. To do this, click the "Send an offer" button at the bottom of the page (Fig. 23).

Fig. 23

 

Your proposal will be saved as a draft. To activate the offer, it is necessary to impose a QES/AES, because without imposing a QES/AES it will be invalid. Specify the key type, select the signature file, write the password to it and click the "Sign" button (Fig. 24).

Fig. 24

 

After the successful submission of the offer, the message "Offer submitted and signed by QES/AES" will appear on the screen, and the status of the offer will change to "Offer submitted. The proposal is signed by QES/AES" (Fig. 25).

Fig. 25

 

The counter on the procedure page will show when the bidding for the selected tender will take place (Fig. 26).

 

Fig. 26

 

Please note that the customer has the right to make changes to the tender documents during the entire application period. If changes are made, he must extend the filing period so that there are at least 7 days left until its completion. Under such conditions, if you submitted your proposal before the changes were made, its status changes to "Requires confirmation". To participate in the auction, you will need to familiarize yourself with the changes made by the customer and confirm your offer or replace the files.

 

At the prequalification stage, the customer will analyze your proposal for compliance with the requirements of the tender documents and decide whether to admit you to the next stage – the auction.

 

Before the start of the electronic auction, information on the performance indicators of the energy service contract or the performance indicators of the energy service contract are automatically disclosed in order from the lowest to the highest without indicating the names of the participants.

 

Fixing Inconsistencies (24 Hours to Fix)

In case of inconsistencies in the offers of the participants, the customer publishes a notice with the requirement to eliminate the inconsistencies in the offer. In response, suppliers must justify the deadline for proposals.

 

The message contains the following information:

• • a list of identified inconsistencies;
  • reference to the requirement (requirements) of the tender documentation regarding which discrepancies were found;
  • a list of information and/or documents that must be submitted by the participant to eliminate identified discrepancies.

 

The message about the need to eliminate inconsistencies in the supplier's offer will be displayed on the tender's detailed page (Fig. 27).

Fig. 27

 

You will also receive an email notification (Fig. 28).

Fig. 28

 

In this case, you need to justify an arbitrary form, that is, upload the documents to the proposal as "Documents confirming qualifications" (Fig. 29).

Fig. 29

 

If several requirements were presented to you, information about them will be stored as history on the detailed page of the tender, indicating "Period" and "Description" (Fig. 30).

Fig. 30

 

Please note! The proposal will be considered corrected after the end of the 24-hour correction period. At this time, the organizer will receive a message as many times as the offer will be changed during the allotted time.

 

Before the justification period ends, you have the opportunity to add confidential documents to the proposal and/or replace them. At the same time, the privacy settings are copied from the previous version of the document. It is impossible to delete sent documents.

 

After the completion of the time for correction, the organizer may reject your proposal if justification is not provided or for another reason provided for by the Law of Ukraine "On Public Procurement", or recognize the proposal as justified.

 

Step # 6 – Participation in the Electronic Auction

If you have been accepted to participate in the auction, the system will send you an email with the link to the auction, information about submitting a bid, admission to the auction, and other necessary information.

 

The electronic auction takes place in the form of a process of increasing the efficiency of the energy service contract. Bets are made by shortening the proposed term of the energy service contract and/or annual payments to the energy service provider by the participants. The starting point is determined by the lowest performance indicator of the energy service contract or the reduced performance indicator of the energy service contract.

 

During the auction, you can change:

• • a fixed percentage of annual payments in favor of the participant, % (minimum accuracy of percentage indication – three decimal places);
  • contract term, years/days.

 

The winner is the participant who offers the most favorable offer during the auction. At the end of the auction, information about the bids of the participants is made public.

 

In case of victory, you must additionally provide the organizer with documents confirming that there are no grounds for rejecting the offer.

 

Find interesting tenders, apply for participation, and win public procurements with SmartTender!