Compliance requirements
The bidder must confirm that none of the statutory exclusion grounds apply: no convictions for organised crime, corruption, fraud, terrorist offences, money laundering or financing terrorism; no convictions for illegal employment of foreigners or violating foreign workers’ employment conditions, including paying below the statutory wage; no convictions for illegal use of child labour or human trafficking; no tax, environmental charge, social security or similar debt; and neither the bidder nor its management body member is subject to an international sanction. The bidder and/or its subcontractors must use qualified authorised specialists, and the contracts for performing the tasks must have been successfully completed. If the bidder is from another country, it must provide a valid certificate from the local tax authority, with an English translation, proving that all tax obligations have been met and there are no tax debts.
Qualification criteria and exclusion grounds
The bidder must be registered in the commercial register or a similar register in its country of establishment; for bidders registered in Estonia, the contracting authority will check the data itself. A foreign bidder must provide a valid copy of the registration certificate if required by the laws of its country of establishment.
The bidder’s net turnover for each of the last three financial years ended by the tender start date must have been at least EUR 300,000 per year. The required years are 2024, 2023 and 2022. The bidder must provide turnover data for those years and the audited balance sheets. If the bidder was established or started trading less than three years ago, qualification is assessed only for the period of activity. Where necessary, the bidder may rely on the resources of other economic operators, provided both parties sign a written confirmation that the relevant resources are available and will be used for contract performance.
The bidder and/or its subcontractor must have performed, as main contractor, at least two contracts within the 36 months before the start of the tender for the manufacture, assembly or testing of SOEC, SOFC or other high-temperature electrolyser cells. These contracts must have been performed within the territory of EU Member States. A list of contracts must be submitted, including the total project value, description of the work, delivered energy, year of signature and client contact details. It must also be confirmed that the contracts were performed properly.
The bidder and/or its subcontractor must demonstrate competence in similar work stages within the last 36 months before the start of the tender. Required experience includes composite element assembly and sealing, and laboratory or production capacity of at least 4 kW for cell assembly and testing. A list of the most important contracts must be submitted, showing the contract terms and the other contracting parties, and proper performance must be confirmed.
Subcontracting is allowed. If the bidder intends to use subcontractors, it must provide information on the size and nature of the subcontracted part.
The quality management system used in the bidder’s production must be based on ISO 9001. The contracting authority may verify the submitted information using additional documents or public registers.
The machine-readable notice did not include precise compliance requirements beyond the above; the tender documents should be checked for any additional formal requirements or forms.