Protasis-Sagemcom victorious in smart meters extra tender

A joint bid by Greek company Protasis and France’s Sagemcom Energy & Telecom SAS appears to have emerged victorious in a supplementary tender staged by Greek electricity distribution network operator DEDDIE/HEDNO for the installation of an initial lot of 360,000 low-voltage smart meters around the country, as an addition to 7.3 million smart meters planned through the project’s main tender.

The main tender still has a long way to go as technical and financial details included in bids submitted December 7 amount to hundreds of pages and represent a humongous task for officials. But the progress made with the supplementary tender comes as an encouraging sign.

The major tender’s anticipated delay prompted DEDDIE/HEDNO to announce its supplementary tender so that some progress can be made during the major tender’s appraisal period.

The same four bidders have submitted offers to both tenders. Besides the joint bid submitted by Protasis and Sagemcom Energy & Telecom SAS, US corporation Itron’s Spanish subsidiary, fellow US firm Elster Rometrics’ Romanian subsidiary, and Slovenia’s Iskraemeco submitted bids to both procedures.

This initial lot of 360,000 smart meters has been marked out for large-scale consumers as well as public-sector agencies and enterprises all over the country.

 

Second round bids for smart meters tender due November

Final-round qualifiers, four in total, in a tender being staged by Greek electricity distribution network operator DEDDIE/HEDNO to offer a lucrative contract for the installation of approximately 7.5 million smart meters throughout the country have received all relevant information, including notification on their technical and financial offers, which will need to be submitted in the second week of November.

Greek company Protasis, partnering with France’s Sagemcom Energy & Telecom SAS; US corporation Itron’s Spanish subsidiary; fellow US firm Elster Rometrics’ Romanian subsidiary; and Slovenia’s Iskraemeco have qualified for the tender’s final round.

The four qualifiers have been provided all details concerning the technical requirements of the project, budgeted at 1.2 billion euros, up from an initial estimate of 800 million euros.

Meanwhile, the Council of State, Greece’s Supreme Administrative Court, has, according to sources, rejected a case filed by Swiss-headquartered group Landis+Gyr, challenging DEDDIE/HEDNO for its disqualification from the tender in the first round.

The court, sources informed, ruled that the distribution network operator was right to disqualify Landis+Gyr from the procedure as the company declared, as a sub-contractor, a production facility other than its Corinth plant, west of Athens, which serves as an international hub for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

 

Landis+Gyr Supreme Court action for smart meters exit

Swiss-headquartered group Landis+Gyr has scheduled a news conference for today to inform of the reasons behind its decision to legally challenge, at the Council of State, Greece’s Supreme Administrative Court, its disqualification from the final round of a tender staged by Greek electricity distribution network operator DEDDIE/HEDNO for a lucrative one billion-euro contract concerning the installation of approximately 7.5 million smart meters throughout the country.

At today’s session, Landis+Gyr also plans to offer an update on the next steps it intends to take concerning the smart-meters tender and also inform on its overall strategy for the Greek market.

Landis+Gyr’s chief executive officer Werner Lieberherr and the head official of the group’s Greek subsidiary, Aristidis Pappas, have already suggested a Supreme Court setback for the Swiss group would jeopardize a multi-million-euro investment plan at its production plant in Corinth, west of Athens.

Landis+Gyr was disqualified from the tender by DEDDIE/HEDNO as it declared, as a sub-contractor, a production facility other than its Corinth plant, serving as an international hub for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Landis+Gyr took its case to the Council of State after a preliminary appeal was rejected by the Hellenic Single Public Procurement Authority.

Greek company Protasis, partnering with France’s Sagemcom Energy & Telecom SAS; US corporation Itron’s Spanish subsidiary; fellow US firm Elster Rometrics’ Romanian subsidiary; and Slovenia’s Iskraemeco have qualified for the tender’s final round.

Over the past decade or so, DEDDIE/HEDNO and parent company PPC, the power utility, have announced a series of tenders for the procurement and installation of smart meters, ultimately to no avail. They have either not taken place or not been completed.

Smart meters tender headed towards unchartered territory

Swiss-headquartered group Landis+Gyr’s announcement highlighting it will pursue all available legal options in an effort to overturn its disqualification from the final round of a tender staged by Greek electricity distribution network operator DEDDIE/HEDNO for a lucrative contract concerning the installation of approximately 7.5 million smart meters throughout the country, to replace the existing analog meters, appears to be directing the competitive procedure towards unchartered territory.

Over the past decade or so, DEDDIE/HEDNO and parent company PPC, the power utility, have announced a series of tenders for the procurement and installation of smart meters, ultimately to no avail. They have either not taken place or not been completed.

The Swiss-headquartered corporation was disqualified from the latest tender by the Greek operator as it had declared, as a sub-contractor, a production facility other than one it maintains in Corinth, west of Athens, which serves as an international hub for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Normally, a recent decision by the Hellenic Single Public Procurement Authority rejecting the Swiss group’s case would give DEDDIE/HEDNO the green light to move ahead with the next round of the tender.

This would entail forwarding technical specifications of the required new power meters as well as the IMR MDM (Meter Data Management System) to the procedure’s four qualifiers, Greek company Protasis, partnering with France’s Sagemcom Energy & Telecom SAS; US corporation Itron’s Spanish subsidiary; fellow US firm Elster Rometrics’ Romanian subsidiary; and Slovenia’s Iskraemeco.

Landis+Gyr is expected to decide on the next step of its legal recourse once it has received the full details, in writing, of its case’s rejection by the Hellenic Single Public Procurement Authority, expected to be delivered between mid and late March.

Ongoing legal cases threaten to delay smart meters tender

Legal action taken by Greek company Protasis, one of four second-round qualifiers in a tender offering a lucrative contract for the installation of smart meters throughout Greece, against Swiss group Landis+Gyr, which took preceding legal action of its own against the market operator staging the tender as a response to its disqualification, threatens to further complicate the overall procedure.

A verdict on the Landis+Gyr case is expected to be delivered on February 28. As things have turned out, distribution network operator DEDDIE/HEDNO, staging the tender, has found an ally in Protasis in its battle against Landis+Gyr.

The Swiss-headquartered corporation was disqualified from the tender by the Greek operator as it had declared, as a sub-contractor, a production facility other than one it maintains in Corinth, west of Athens, which serves as an international hub for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

In its legal case against Landis+Gyr, Protasis supports the exact same claim made by DEDDIE/HEDNO in its decision to eliminate the Swiss company.

According to sources, if Landis+Gyr is not vindicated in its ongoing legal battle, it is prepared to take all legal means available to rejoin the tender’s shortlist, meaning the company may go all the way to the Council of State, Greece’s supreme administrative court. It appears Protasis could do the same if its legal case against Landis+Gyr is not successful.

Given such possibilities, the DEDDIE/HEDNO tender is headed for big delays of at least three to six months, maybe even a year.

Besides Protasis, three other participants have qualified for the second round of the DEDDIE/HEDNO tender, these being US corporation Itron’s Spanish subsidiary, fellow US firm Elster Rometrics, and Slovenia’s Iskraemeco.

The tender is offering a contract for the installation of approximately 7.5 million smart meters throughout the country over a ten-year period, a project budgeted at 830 million euros.

 

HEDNO awaiting Landis+Gyr verdict for smart meters tender 2nd round

Distribution network operator DEDDIE/HEDNO is awaiting the outcome of legal action taken by Swiss group Landis+Gyr following its disqualification from a tender for the installation of smart meters in Greece before it proceeds with the procedure’s second round.

The Landis+Gyr case is expected to be heard by the Authority for the Examination of Preliminary Appeals (AEPP) next week, on February 8, according to energypress sources. The outcome of the case will determine how the tender plays out, including whether further legal action could be taken by the Swiss-headquartered corporation.

The tender is offering a lucrative contract for the installation of approximately 7.5 million smart throughout the country over a ten-year period, a project budgeted at 830 million euros.

Once the situation concerning the Swiss group has been clarified, DEDDIE/HEDNO will forward, to the tender’s participants, second-round terms concerning smart-meter technical specifications as well as software specifications.

Landis+Gyr is said to have been disqualified from the DEDDIE/HEDNO tender as it had declared, as a sub-contractor, a plant other than one it maintains in Corinth, west of Athens, which serves as an international hub for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

As previously reported by energypress, four participants have qualified for the second round of the DEDDIE/HEDNO tender, these being US corporation Itron’s Spanish subsidiary, fellow US firm Elster Rometrics, Slovenia’s Iskraemeco, and Greek company Protasis.

Besides Landis+Gyr, Denmark’s Netcompany Intrasoft and Italy’s Gridspertise also failed to advance to the next stage of the DEDDIE/HEDNO tender.

Four entrants make 2nd round of HEDNO smart meters tender

Electricity distribution network operator DEDDIE/HEDNO has shortlisted four of seven first-round participants in a tender offering a lucrative contract for the installation of approximately 7.5 million smart throughout the country, to replace the existing analog meters.

An additional contestant could be added to the list of second-round qualifiers if Swiss company Landis+Gyr is vindicated in a legal case it filed following its failure to reach the second round. A verdict is expected within the next three to four months.

The four bidder through to the tender’s second round are: Itron Spain SLU, the Spanish subsidiary of leading American meters producer Itron, joined by Spain’s ZIV Aplicaciones y Tecnologia SL, a maker of modems and related equipment; the Romanian subsidiary of American meters producer Elster Rometrics SRL, a member of the Honeywell group, along with Intracom SA Telecoms Solutions and Elster Gmbh; Slovenia’s Iskraemeco, with France’s Oracle France SAS; and Greece’s Protasis SA, joined by French company Sagemcom Energy & Telecom SAS, the main supplier of France’s Enedis.

Besides Switzerland’s Landis+Gyr, a multinational with facilities including a factory in Corinth, west of Athens, the two other participants not through to the second round are: Italy’s Gridspertise Srl, which was joined by Bitron Poland Sp Z.oo for the DEDDIE/HEDNO tender; and Denmark’s Netcompany Intarsoft SA – it took over Intrasoft in 2021 – which bid along with Sweden’s Ningbo Sanxing Electric, Poland’s Foxytech Sp Z.o.o, and Vodafone Panafon Hellenic Telecommunications Company SA.

DEDDIE/HEDNO plans to have the upgrade’s 7.5 million or so smart meters installed over a ten-year period. The project is budgeted at 830 million euros.

The new smart meters will provide consumers with real-time information on the kilowatt-hours they use; consumption records, via home devices or web applications; as well as varying supplier tariff levels, all of which will help consumers become more energy-efficient for lower energy costs.

In addition, smart meters will help DEDDIE/HEDNO identify technical problems in the grid, enabling swifter repair of damages.