European tender procedures
TenneT observes various different procedures when purchasing products and services. These procedures have been laid down in European laws and regulations and in our purchasing policy. In each call for tenders, TenneT announces which procedure it will follow.
EU regulations and Tendering Procedures (Special Sectors) Decree
If a delivery, service or project exceeds a certain threshold amount, TenneT must observe (European) tendering procedures. The threshold amount refers to the amount that TenneT spends over a period of several years on a particular product (group) or product‑market combination defined by the EU.
If a contract exceeds the relevant threshold amount, TenneT follows the provisions of the European Directive on Tendering Procedures in Utility Sectors and the Tendering Procedures (Special Sectors) Decree ((Besluit Aanbestedingen Speciale Sectoren). Calls for competition that may result in orders are published by TenneT in a notice on the official EU tenders website and on our company website. The tendering procedure to be followed is described in the notice.
Limited submission procedure
If the value of a contract remains below the threshold amount, TenneT follows the so‑called limited submission procedure. This means that TenneT follows its own purchasing policy. In this case, TenneT posts the announcement on its company website.
The limited submission procedure for a contract with a reasonable value (that nevertheless remains below the threshold amount) is as follows:
- TenneT issues a call for suppliers to qualify and consults its vendor base.
- Potential suppliers request information from the Procurement Department.
- Potential suppliers send data to TenneT in order to qualify as a TenneT supplier.
- TenneT invites the selected suppliers and suppliers from the vendor base to make an offer.
- TenneT selects and evaluates the offers.
In some situations, TenneT may directly invite a supplier to deliver a product or issue an offer.
