Good practice:

Tender procedure for the purchase of 100% green electricity supply

SCR Piemonte is the Central Purchasing Body of the Piedmont Region (Italy) and its goal is to rationalize public spending and to optimize the procurement procedures in regional matter of interest (f.i. infrastructure, healthcare). In this framework, SCR Piemonte awarded 3 tender procedures for the purchase of electricity with a progressive increasing component of renewable energy - certified with a Guarantee of Origin provided by the supplier - for about six years.

In the first tender (awarded in 2016) only 40% of the supply was composed by green electricity; instead, in the last one (awarded in 2019), the electricity was 100% green.
Additionally a further framework agreement for electricity supply is foreseen for 2021

Through this progressive increase of the green percentage of renewable energy, public procurement has proven to be very important for all the Regional Public Administrations involved: these contracts in fact may be used by any regional public authority on the Piedmontese territory, including 19 Local Health Authorities, about 300 municipalities, the Metropolitan City of Turin, and provincial and regional agencies.

This practice (1st tender) has also been included in SPP Regions Database, aimed at promoting the creation and expansion of European regional networks of municipalities working together on sustainable public procurement and public procurement of innovation.

For the 1st tender procedure were involved:
1 procurement office unit (procedure responsible) + 1 administrative unit + 1 external support on technical issues (by Regional Agency for the Protection of the Environment) + 1 communication unit

4 kind of advantages achieved:
- Environmental (lower emissions of C02 into the atmosphere)
- Economic (important economic resources saved)
- Administrative (tendering procedures as a concrete instrument of environmental protection)
- Institutional (central purchasing body as institution able of driving innovation and environmental safeguard)
For the 1st tender:
- 150.000 tons of CO2 emissions saved
- primary energy saving of 545 GWh
- financial saving of 8.000 €/GWh

These tendering procedures represent a concrete instrument able to trigger innovation and environmental protection-oriented criteria into (public) tenders: if similar supplies of electricity tenders would be performed in other regions with a high (and increasing) percentage of renewable energy components, the same benefits outlined above could be obtained outside Piedmont Region too.
Additionally, the tender procedure approach made through a central purchasing body on behalf of several public institutions (also smaller-sized ones) would:
- rationalise public spending
- achieve price reductions for the supply
- optimise selecting procedures for contractors
- firmly state a demand need to the renewable energy/green economy markets