Since our inception in 2013, our firm has been writing bids and tenders in the Australian Infrastructure sector. This includes working on numerous electricity and water utility tenders – an area in which we have gathered strong and deep experience in from a tenders and bids perspective.
With the consistent pipeline of water and electricity projects projected throughout 2024 and beyond, our team continues to support clients in the water and electricity industries to write winning bids and tenders and secure contracts.
Types of water and electricity bids we have worked on
Our team of bid writers have assisted clients across Australia (and New Zealand) including in all major cities (Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Darwin and Launceston) as well as regional and remote areas such as the Hunter Region in NSW, the Pilbarra Region and across regional Queensland) to write a broad range of water and electricity bids. Examples of the types of contracts we have helped with bids on include:
- Construction and Maintenance Contracts: We have helped clients submit bids and tenders for the construction and maintenance of water and electricity infrastructure. We have also assisted with bids for services associated with major infrastructure such as cleaning and security. Our team has worked on bids for major projects such as the construction of new power plants and sub stations, long-term maintenance contracts of power plants and substations, excavation and land clearing works for the installation of transmission wires, the development and continued maintenance of water treatment facilities and the development of pipelines. We have worked on tenders and bids for state based utility services providers as well as bids and tenders for the provision of services to government and quasi government water and electricity institutions. For example, we helped a number of construction law firms write bids for the legal panel of Sydney Water.
- Supply and Services: We have worked on many equipment and service supply tenders for a range of water and electricity industry stakeholders. From the supply of specialist equipment, water pumps, and transformer equipment, to working on logistics and transport bids for the delivery of such equipment, we draw on our generalist experience across all industries to write winning bids.
- Retail Electricity Supply: We have assisted private and public sector electricity retailers and wholesalers to submit bids and tenders to supply electricity to specific customer segments and also specific regions. Our experience with graphics and infographics helps our make our clients bids stand-out.
- Consultancy Services: As a firm, we have a strong focus on professional services. From engineering and environmental consultants, to economic and actuarial analysis consultants, we have helped professional consultants bid for contracts in the water, electricity and utility industry. We combine our experience in professional services bids with our knowledge of the industry to help you win.
Writing water and electricity bids to Government
Over the years, we have gained valuable experience writing bids and tenders to most government departments involved in the water and electricity industry. These include:
- Federal Government: We have written bids and tenders to the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts (DITRDCA).
- State-Owned Corporations (SOEs): These are created on a state by state basis. We have written bids and tenders to most SOEs across the country including Energy Australia, Sydney Water Corporate and Powerlink.
- Local Government Authorities (LGAs): Our experience writing bids and tenders to LGAs is mostly associated with infrastructure upgrades and maintenance services. We help small and medium local businesses win bids with LGAs.
Tips from our team to win more bids and tenders
Our expert writers have put together these guidelines on electricity and water tenders to help you increase your tender and bid win rates:
Prepare to Prepare
Preparation is key when tackling electricity and water tenders. It is important to prepare as many of the required documents as possible before applying to make the application period as seamless and easy as possible. Often inexperienced tenderers may start tendering without having acquired any information from their business or organisation, which then may lead to a hurried and ineffective tender response, and consequently a lower win rate.
As is with many aspects of life, preparation is key. Especially with tendering, documents such as personnel CVs and insurance certificates may be easy to acquire if they have been stored in a database. But businesses or organisations may need to provide more up-to-date personnel CVs or certifications during the tender response. In which case if a member of the key personnel is unavailable this can cause a set back in a few days, in the worst case scenarios may cause the tenderer to miss the deadline or otherwise cause the use of an older CV instead. Though a minor issue, it is important to note how easily this can be avoided with the bare minimum of preparation.
Leverage your skills and assets
Remember to leverage your skills and assets in your electricity and water tenders to ensure you are reflecting 100% of what your business or organisation can offer. Skills can be leveraged to the extent that which is relevant to the tender and may provide a benefit to the procurer. As well as assets such as new equipment and software that may provide a distinct advantage over competitors should also be leveraged and utilised in your tender response.
Talk about your experience in detail
Most RFP’s will ask for information on your experience. This is a good opportunity to go into detail. It’s not enough to talk about what projects you completed and inserted some images. You need to go into detail about each case study and your experience. Talk about what you didn’t that was different, which key personnel were involved and what key challenges were overcome. For example:
- Did you come up against major logistics challenges if the site was in a remote location?
- Or was it a large project which you needed to complete quickly and apply additional resources?
Either way, it’s important to talk about the challenges and how you delivered a quality project and outcome for the client. If you saved the client money, or minimised variations, it’s a great point to mention.
Demonstrate your energy industry specialisation
When compiling an energy industry tender, it is critical to clearly demonstrate your industry specialisation. For major construction and infrastructure projects, procurement teams are focused on selecting specialist contractors. It is often not enough to have the capability to complete the works. You need to demonstrate your focus and thought leadership in the sector as well as your commitment to innovation. Demonstrate this industry specialisation by putting suggestions for improvements in your submission.
Remember the long term
Whole cost of project is a common term now involved in most energy, hydraulic and utility tenders. Most major projects involve a construction and maintenance period. Some tenders are for maintenance only. Either way, the client will often have a focus on the longer term. Remember that you are pitching to an educated procurement department with subject matter experts that know what they want It’s important that you appeal to their long-term thinking and focus on the longer-term in your submission.
About our team
We provide tender and bid writing services and help businesses across Australia write winning electricity and water tenders. We have over 10 years of combined experience writing professional tenders for our clients. We value our work and always provide the highest level of quality in our tender writing.
Through our tender writing services, we have helped businesses across Australia, including in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth, win more bids and secure large government contracts. Our clients often contact us for help with a tender or bid, and our consultants not only write, but will edit and coordinate your response.
Our consultants provide a free over the phone consultation to answer any and all of your questions on 0410 448 770.
