Compliance requirements
The bidder must not be subject to mandatory exclusion grounds, including participation in a criminal organisation, corruption, fraud, or offences related to a terrorist act or terrorist activity. In the ESPD, the bidder must confirm whether any such ground applies and, where relevant, provide the date of conviction, the reason, the person concerned, the duration of exclusion and information on self-cleaning measures. If the information is electronically available, a corresponding link must also be provided. The machine-readable notice did not include precise exclusion grounds; they must be checked in the tender documents.
Qualification criteria and exclusion grounds
The bidder must hold an operating licence for heat production, heat distribution and heat sales, and this must be visible in the business register. The bidder must also be registered for pressure equipment work. If the Estonian bidder’s data are visible in public registers, the contracting authority will check them itself; a foreign bidder must submit a document from the competent authority in its country of establishment confirming equivalent competence.
The bidder’s net turnover in heat production, distribution and sales over the last three financial years must be at least EUR 750,000. If the commercial register data are not detailed enough, the bidder must provide a statement showing turnover by year and by area of activity. A foreign bidder must provide extracts from the competent authority in its country.
The bidder must have uninterrupted and lawful work experience during the last 36 months as a heat undertaking or network operator in similar district heating networks. The requirement is met if heat production from wood chips has been at least 300 MWh in each year and a price cap has been approved by the Competition Authority. The bidder must provide information on at least 2 similar network areas, including the network areas, production method, quantities of heat produced and sold, and references to the Competition Authority’s decisions.
The bidder’s team must include at least one person with a certificate as a pressure equipment use supervisor and at least one specialist at level 7 or higher in heat engineering. The required data and evidence must be entered in the ESPD. In addition, the bid must include a business plan and a board confirmation letter on financing the reconstruction. The bid must comply with the conditions set out in the tender documents.