Battery storage tender: BESS components and grid infrastructure

Battery storage tender, incl. grid infrastructure: we support you from preparation through bidder selection to contract signing.

Tendering battery storage systems requires technical know-how, market knowledge and a sure touch in negotiation. We support you throughout the tender process: from structured preparation through the selection of suitable bidders to contract signing. Battery storage systems and the associated grid infrastructure are major cost blocks in a storage project. A structured tender makes the bids of different bidders comparable and creates a reliable basis for decision-making. We consider technical requirements, grid connection and contractual provisions together from the outset. For public contracting authorities within the meaning of the Federal Procurement Act, insofar as the contract falls within its scope, there is a duty to provide a neutral performance specification so that bids remain comparable. The number of full cycles per day must match the warranty period and the guaranteed energy throughput. The warranty for inverters, transformer and auxiliary systems should also be clearly regulated.

For storage systems, the details of the performance specification decide. Gross, net and usable capacity should be stated separately, as should the available power under real conditions such as state of charge, temperature and ageing. The round-trip efficiency is only meaningful if losses of the inverter, transformer and auxiliary power for cooling and control are included. Capacity declines with cycling and idle time, so warranty conditions on residual capacity, number of cycles and operating temperature must match the planned operating profile. Commissioning deadlines after delivery can also affect the warranty and the condition of the system. Performance curves over state of charge, temperature and state of ageing are to be checked: capacity loss can be strong early on even though a warranty only takes effect at the end of the term, and residual capacity can still be available while charging and discharging power is already declining.

Further points are the number of independent inverter units, response and recovery times after faults, spare parts supply, access rights to energy management and remote access, as well as disposal and recycling. For the grid connection, the overall system must be certifiable; control dynamics and the question of whether black start and grid forming are required are also relevant. Cell chemistry is relevant to safety: LFP cells are generally considered thermally more stable than NMC cells; the specific fire behaviour is to be assessed on the basis of the cell and system data. Added to this are evidence of fire behaviour and the requirements of the EU Batteries Regulation. Also to be clarified are module replacement instead of cell repair, limited shelf life, open interfaces with raw data access instead of proprietary black-box solutions, firmware dependency and cybersecurity, and who the reliable warrantor is.

Thanks to our experience in energy storage and a strong network of manufacturers, we make sure your tender is technically precise and economically sensible. The execution planning for battery storage provides the technical specifications for this. The civil and electrical trades are covered by a separate tender; we coordinate the procurement and delivery of the storage systems afterwards. Procurement is placed in its economic context in the investment and operating cost plan for storage and grid.