Solar, PV and renewables tenders are becoming increasingly common. With government and the private sector now regularly tendering out major solar projects, the tender process has become the go to mechanism for selecting a supplier.

The renewables sector as a whole is currently experiencing exponential growth. Companies with a strong engineering focus are often finding themselves outbid by companies with great marketing but less technical capability. This is generally an indicator of a lack of sophistication in the procurement process.

It’s important for companies bidding for work to quickly establish themselves as credible providers by demonstrating previous experience and track records. Organisations also need to ensure their bids are presented professionally with all of the necessary graphics and infographics.

Our team of bid and tender writers help renewable energy companies write bids and proposals and secure contracts. Some of the strategies we employ include:

Explain the technical specs of PV panels

It’s easy to include in your submission reference to the panels you will be using as well as a brochure of the panels issued by the company. This may also be the case for inverters too such as SMA inverters.

However, it’s important when putting the document together that you explain your choice of panel and inverter and clearly articulate its benefits. For example, if it’s manufactured in Germany and comes with great after sales service, this needs to be detailed.

You need to go above and beyond in explaining the benefits of the technical specifications of your system. This will give you an edge and justify any higher than normal pricing you are putting forward. The same applies to other renewable sector tenders such as wind farms.

It’s in sufficient to simply attach or append a technical specification datasheet of your proposed equipment to the bid and expect the reader to read it. You need to summarise the key technical features in the main document, and clearly explain their benefits.

Detail your ability to project manage the delivery

It’s one thing to be able to arrange the carbon credits, design a system and use the appropriate equipment. It’s another, to actually deliver the installation of the project successfully. Focus on your ability to deliver projects similar to those being tendered for. Provide CVs of your technical and project management personnel as well as a methodology for how you propose to deliver the project.

For large projects, community consultation is important as are the logistics for installation. For example, if you are tendering to install a 15MW solar system in the Australian outback, you need to talk about how you will deliver the system, mobilise your team and ensure the installation is completed within the designated timeframe.

It’s important to demonstrate to the reader (and potential client) that you are taking a long-term view to the project; that you are capable of project managing the project to completion and that you have the plan to maintain the project post-completion.

Take and innovative, partnering approach

It’s important to take an innovative, partnering approach in your tender. There may be changes or design improvements along the way. The organization may have another 10 projects which they would like to roll-out, and may be looking for a partner for a number of projects.

It’s important to give your bid a partnering flavor and demonstrate that you will be innovative in your approach. Talk about how you will incorporate any client feedback or amendments through the project delivery process. For example, if there is limited access to the site, how will you work with the client to provide access.

Another example may be when the client has in-house renewable engineers as part of their team. You can talk about about you will ensure your engineers will work cooperatively and effectively their engineers to not only deliver the project, but plan for new projects. This will help put you in the box seat for future projects, and also demonstrate to the reader that you will work cooperatively with the client to deliver a quality outcome.

Our tender and bid writers help clients in the renewable energy space across Australia including in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia, Australian Capital Territory, Northern Territory and South Australia. We assist with all renewable energy industries including:

• Solar
• Wind
• Hydro
• Tidal
• Geothermal
• Biomass

Jason Cooney, Director of The Tender Team and Tsaks Consulting, has helped a range of renewable companies secure new contracts.