SUSPENSION OF PROCUREMENT PROCEDURE; HEAT PUMPS FOR TREATED WASTEWATER, ALVA-YHTIÖT OY

The purpose of the procurement was to award a contract for the provision of heat pump plant. The heat pumps were to be delivered to Jyväskylä, Finland. The scope of delivery was to include compression heat pumps (2-3) with total district heat production capacity 30-40 MW. The procurement process included delivery, including unloading at the site and erection and installation of the work. The basic information on the object of the contract and preliminary specifications was provided on the procurement documents.

Alva-yhtiöt Oy (hereinafter also “Contracting Authority”) submitted a contract notice for the heat pumps for treated wastewater to the electronic database HILMA (2023-001759), www.hankintailmoitukset.fi, and Tenders Electronic Daily, TED (687582-2023), on 10th November 2023. The procurement procedure was a negotiated procedure as defined in the Finnish Act on Public Contracts and Concessions of entities operating in the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors (1398/2016). The Contract Award Decision was made on 22 February 2022. Following an appeal whereby the legitimacy of the procurement documents was contested by one of the participating tenderers, the Contracting Authority submitted to the Market Court a request for an interim decision for allowing the implementation of the contested Contract Award Decision. The Contracting Authority’s request was rejected by the Market Court via Interim Decision no. 217/2024 on 11 April 2024. In light of the Market Court’s Interim Decision, the Contracting Authority has decided to suspend the procurement. Pursuant to Section 116 of the Finnish Act on Public Contracts and Concessions of entities operating in the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors, a procurement procedure may be suspended for a real and legitimate reason. After considering the claims presented in the appeal, the Contracting Authority has re-examined its procurement documentation and concluded that some of the clauses in the draft procurement agreement may have been excessively restrictive from the perspective of potential tenderers. Taking also into account the critical time schedule and time-sensitive funding arrangements of to the procurement, as acknowledged by the Market Court in its Interim Decision, the Contracting Authority hereby suspends the procurement in favour of a new procurement procedure, which is considered as the most expedient way to facilitate the procurement and the completion of the overall investment project related thereto.