Press release 2016-07-01 at 9:29
Solar power plants will be installed mostly on the roofs of properties owned by the municipalities, such as Tampere Hall. Photo: Tampere Hall
34 municipalities intend to take part in the joint procurement of solar power plants organised by the Finnish Environment Institute and KL-Kuntahankinnat Oy. Of the largest cities, Helsinki, Tampere, Oulu and Seinäjoki, among others, have committed to the project. Currently, the order encompasses 81 solar power plants with a total power capacity of 1,2 MWp, and the quantity is expected to increase.
Solar power plants will be installed mostly on the roofs of properties owned by the municipalities, such as schools, day care centres, service centres and city halls. In Tampere, panels will be installed on the roof of Tampere Hall, among other locations.
All Finnish municipalities and municipally-owned organisations are welcome to join the procurement initiative. Municipalities are not necessarily required to make one-time investments in solar power plants and can instead finance the procurements through monthly payments.
“Joint procurements are an efficient way to create markets for renewable energy and climate-friendly new technologies. We are very pleased about the interest shown by the municipalities in the joint procurement of solar power plants. A sufficiently large number were courageous enough to get involved right from the start, enabling the procurement to go forward”, project lead Pasi Tainio of the Finnish Environment Institute says, delighted.
An invitation to tender has been published for the joint procurement. The supplier will be selected in September 2016. The power station installations for the spearhead municipalities will be conducted during the autumn of 2016 and spring of 2017.
Highest number of power plants for the municipality of Ii
The highest number of power plants will be purchased by the municipality of Ii, which regards investments in renewable energy to be a key element of growth. There will be a total of 11 power plants with a total power capacity of 190 kWp. The procurement of power stations is related to Ii’s goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80 % by the year 2020.
“The municipality of Ii has had prior good experiences regarding the production of solar energy. The joint procurement presented a good opportunity to purchase more stations. SYKE and Kuntahankinnat will handle the preparations for the procurement, and the larger procurement quantity will hopefully affect the price of the power stations”, says Ari Alatossava, Mayor of Ii.
Within Ii, power plants will be installed in buildings that consume energy throughout the year and particularly during the summer. According to the Mayor, it is currently not feasible to purchase solar power plants for anything other than own use, since the price of solar energy does not ensure profitable sales.
Easy to join
The cooperation with Kuntahankinnat allows all Finnish municipal organisations to get involved in the on-going joint procurement of solar power plants without arranging their own competitive tendering processes. The agreement can be entered into immediately and at later stages throughout the entire four-year agreement period.
The size and installation site of the plants affect the price, which means that the agreement will include a variety of price categories. In the monthly fee model, the devices and their operation will be the responsibility of the supplier for the duration of the agreement period. The monthly fee also makes the investment risk-free for the municipality in the event that the device supplier finds itself in financial trouble.
Request for quotation
More information
Engineer Pasi Tainio, Finnish Environment Institute, firstname.lastname@ymparisto.fi, Tel. +358 40 350 7361
Procurement Specialist Antti Tuukkanen, KL-Kuntahankinnat, firstname.lastname @kuntahankinnat.fi, Tel. +358 50 569 6825