EU decides: Municipalities must procure energy electronically from 2016.

Around 250 Bavarian municipalities will save a total of around 9 million euros in natural gas costs for 2015, 2016 and 2017 thanks to the cooperation with the energy experts from enPORTAL and KUBUS. This pleasing result is shown by the electronic tender that ended at the beginning of June with enPORTAL Public, a unique online tool for the public procurement of electricity and gas. Following the successful implementation of the electricity tender last year, Bavarian municipalities have now tendered their natural gas requirements online and achieved the best price for themselves by maximising competition among suppliers in the market - simply, securely and transparently. In the future, online procurement of energy will be mandatory for all municipalities from 2016 onwards, according to Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on public procurement.

Municipalities benefit from the online tool

The electronic call for tenders, which ended at the beginning of June, with enPORTAL Public presented: 250 Bavarian municipalities save a total of 9 million euros in natural gas costs for the next three years. Their financial expenditure on natural gas is thus reduced by about 20 percent per year. This success not only pleases the municipalities, but also enPORTAL and KUBUS Kommunalberatung und Service GmbH, which have been working together in the public sector for five years.

"In a time of often strained municipal budgets, we offer a simple and effective tool to save costs on energy purchases. The 20 percent saving shows what maximum competition among suppliers can achieve and what prices can be offered," says Rainer Otto, Managing Director of enPORTAL. The online tool not only helps with savings, but also supports energy data management, as all of the offtake points are available online and the data is clearly listed. "This is the second time we have worked with enPORTAL and KUBUS and we are once again delighted with the electronic tendering process and the natural gas price achieved. The online processes simplify our energy purchasing enormously and reduce our effort to a maximum," says Günter Wittmann, Head of Real Estate at the City of Mainburg.

Electronic tendering according to GWB becomes mandatory

Since 2009, electricity and gas requirements may also be put out to tender online in accordance with the German Act Against Restraints of Competition (GWB). enPORTAL is the only company operating throughout Germany to offer an electronic auction with an electronic signature in accordance with Section 101 (6) of the Act Against Restraints of Competition (GWB). This online tendering will become important for municipalities in the future, because the EU Regulation that came into force in February 2014[1] municipalities will have to tender their energy needs online from 2016. "With enPORTAL Public we are optimally prepared for the change in the law. Together with KUBUS Kommunalberatung, we are already offering what will be mandatory for public institutions in two years' time," says Clemens Graf von Wedel, Managing Director of enPORTAL. The energy experts currently manage 2 terawatt hours (TWh) of public electricity consumption, which is about 4.3 percent of the total electricity consumption of the public sector (46 TWh) - the share is growing considerably. Electronic tendering in accordance with the GWB makes it possible to achieve prices in line with the market in a legally secure and competitive manner.

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