Protasis

Landis+Gyr Supreme Court action for smart meters exit

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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

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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

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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.

 

Operator decides on 2nd round qualifiers for smart meters

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Electricity distribution network operator DEDDIE/HEDNO has shortlisted the second-round qualifiers in a tender awarding a contract for the installation of approximately 7.5 million smart throughout the country, to replace the existing analog meters, energypress sources have informed.

The DEDDIE/HEDNO board yesterday approved the shortlist of second-round qualifiers, roughly one-third of the original field of seven candidates.

The companies disqualified failed to meet procedural requirements or quality standards, the sources noted.

Interested parties faced a mid-June deadline to submit applications to the tender. The operator’s appraisal of first-round applications required considerable time as participants were called upon to clarify various details.

The tender’s first-round participants were: US-based Itron; Switzerland’s Landis+Gyr; Elster, now a member of international group Honeywell; Protasis, a Greek firm operating in Greece as a representative of French company Sagemcom; Slovenia-based Iskraemeco; Gridspertise, founded in 2021 by Italian group Enel to market the group’s smart network technology; and Intrasoft International, which became a member of Danish-headquartered IT group Netcompany last year.

DEDDIE/HEDNO plans to complete the project by 2030. Its cost is budgeted at 829 million euros. The upgrade will offer immediate benefits, which have been evaluated at 223 million euros in the first year alone, in 2031.

 

Seven international players meet smart meters tender deadline

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A total of seven major international players have expressed non-binding, first-round interest in a new tender staged by distribution network operator DEDDIE/HEDNO for procurement and installation of digital power meters around the country.

The operator launched this new tender after its previous procedure, launched eight years ago, ended up being brought to a standstill by legal battles fought between rival bidders.

The seven companies that met the new procedure’s first-round deadline, which expired last Friday following five extensions granted to interested parties, are: US-based Itron; Switzerland’s Landis+Gyr; Elster, now a member of international group Honeywell; Protasis, a Greek firm operating in Greece as a representative of French company Sagemcom; Slovenia-based Iskraemeco; Gridspertise, founded in 2021 by Italian group Enel to market the group’s smart network technology; and Intrasoft International, which became a member of Danish-headquartered IT group Netcompany last year.

First-round offers are planned to be opened at midday today, setting in motion their appraisal.

The project, entailing the installation of approximately 7.5 million smart meters in Greece, is expected to be completed in 2030 and its budget is estimated at 830 million euros.

 

Operator’s effort for telemetry center upgrade nears launch

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DEDDIE/HEDNO, the Hellenic Electricity Distribution Network Operator, has entered the final stretch of an effort to upgrade its medium-voltage telemetry center by approving Protasis, a power systems engineering and consulting company, as the winning bidder of a tender concerning the center’s expansion, maintenance, technical and functional support.

According to the tender’s terms, the winning bidder will have 13 months to complete the project once its contract has been signed.

The project, budgeted at 681,200 euros, includes expanding the medium-voltage telemetry center for monitoring of an additional 230,000 points; expanding user licenses; maintenance work at the medium-voltage center; as well as installation of new drivers and modules.