Public procurement notice: Contract Notice
Published: 2020-09-25
Buyer: Energistyrelsen
Country: DK
Contract type: Works
Procedure: Competitive procedure with negotiation
CPV classification: 31121310 | 31121320 | 31121330 | 31121340 | 31160000
Submission deadline: 2020-12-01
Award criteria: Lowest price

Technical requirements: In 2018, all political parties in the Danish Parliament entered into an energy agreement to ensure the green transition and provide security for long term investments. As part of the agreement, the parties decided to establish three new large-scale offshore wind farms before 2030, which will expand the supply of energy from offshore wind by at least 2,400 MW. The first of the three wind farms to be tendered is Thor Offshore Wind Farm. Please see the elaborate description in section II.2.4) and the tender documents at the website referred to in section I.3). Reference is also made to the prior information notice on this tender no. 2020/S 064-152011 published 31 March 2020.
Offshore wind farm and grid connection in the Danish North Sea west of Thorsminde at Nissum Fjord, min. 20 km off the coast north of Nissum Fjord up to POC at Volder Mark.
The tender concerns a concession for the Thor Offshore Wind Farm, which will be located in the North Sea west of Thorsminde by Nissum Fjord at a distance of minimum 20 km from the shore and with a capacity of min. 800 MW and max. 1 000 MW. The concession owner of Thor Offshore Wind Farm will receive subsidies in the form of a price premium for a 20-year period. The subsidies will be granted in accordance with a CfD-scheme designed for this tender. It is a two- way CfD with caps on both the Danish State’s payment to the concession owner and the concession owner’s payment to the Danish State, which will prevent that neither one carries the full risk of the electricity price developing fundamentally different from the forecast. For a more in-depth description of the subsidy scheme please see annex 3.9 of the tender material at the website referred to in section I.3). Preliminary timetable for the tender:
The concessionaire shall carry out installation of the offshore wind farm, including possible offshore substation(s) and the grid connection from the offshore substation to the POC at the nearshore substation on land. Certain results from preliminary surveys are already available as technical background information, please see the above website referred to in section I.1). Prior to submission of final bids, a strategic environmental assessment of the plan for Thor offshore wind farm will be conducted. Furthermore, supplementary surveys with focus on benthic flora and fauna, marine mammals, fish and fisheries, underwater noise, safety of navigation, radar and radio interference, marine archaeology, visibility analysis and cumulative impacts as well as a full EIA for the onshore project to be built by Energinet and the concessionaire will be carried out. All results will be published as they become available in due time before submission of final bids. It should be noted that the concessionaire will be responsible for undertaking the EIA of the concrete project offshore after the signing of the concession agreement. Establishment of necessary nearshore facilities from POC at Volder Mark and grid connection forward to the transmission grid at Idomlund will be provided by the Danish TSO, Energinet. The onshore grid connection will be built to receive 1 000 MW in the POC and will be available to receive first power by 1 January 2025 unless a later date is agreed with the concessionaire.
The conditions for participation as described under section III.1.2) and III.1.3) are put in place to ensure that pre-qualified applicants all meet the requirements regarding financial and technical capacity required to establish the wind farm project. The financing of the installation of the offshore wind farm including Energinet’s part of the onshore facilities (app. DKK 701 million) is to be paid by the concessionaire. The concessionaire will also be required to pay for pre-investigations etc. conducted by Energinet (app. DKK 220 million), and for any necessary mitigating actions in relation to Danish radar installations. License for electricity production and authorisation will be granted for 30 years with the possibility of a prolongation of 5 years if allowed under applicable regulation at the relevant time. The concessionaire must connect 95 % of the wind farm to the onshore POC by 31 December 2027 at the latest. The concession contract includes a possibility to request the DEA for later inclusion of a PtX-solution.
License for electricity production and authorisation is anticipated to be granted app. 3 years after the contract is signed. The license has a duration of 30 years with the possibility of a prolongation of 5 years if allowed under applicable regulation at the relevant time.
If more than 10 candidates (applicants) fulfill the minimum requirements, cf. section III.1.2) and III.1.3) and are not covered by any of the applicable exclusion grounds cf. section VI.3), the selection among applicants to be invited to tender, will be based on an evaluation of which applicants have documented the most relevant references for comparable works (see the description in section II.2.4) and annex 1 of the tender material).
The evaluation of which applicants have documented the most relevant references for comparable works will be based on an assessment of the submitted references, with special emphasis being put on references for integrated projects consisting of offshore wind farms including offshore AC-substations. When assessing such references, the more the integrated project resembles the Thor Offshore Wind Farm project in terms of capacity, grid connection set up etc. the better. If no applicants submit references for integrated projects, emphasis will be put on projects for wind farms with a capacity of 150 MW or more. When assessing such references, the more the project resembles the Thor Offshore Wind Farm project in terms of capacity etc. the better.
Furthermore, emphasis will be put on completed projects (i.e. the last turbine has delivered the first kWh to the grid) and projects in which the applicant/the supporting entity documents experience with as many of the key areas mentioned in section III. 1.3), litra h. as possible.
Certain reports etc. constitute technical background material, only available at the address set out in section I.1) and an FTP site managed by Energinet. Parts of this material, including MetOcean data, are confidential and will only be available to prequalified applicants in the tender, upon submitting a declaration of confidentiality, see section 4 of annex 2 of the tender material.
The applicant must submit the European Single Procurement Document (‘ESPD’) with the following information:
— the applicant's equity ratio (total equity/total assets x 100) in the most recent financial year available; or
— information on the applicant's current long-term debt rating (Standard and Poors and Fitch, Moody’s or an equivalent current rating from another reputable international credit rating agency).
For associations (e.g. a consortium), a separate ESPD must be submitted for each participating operator. If the applicant relies on the capacity of other entities, an ESPD must be submitted for each of the entities on which the applicant relies.
Please also see the separate Prequalification Document published as annex 1 of the tender material for further information on how to fill in the ESPD and requested documentation in terms of economic and financial standing.