Support to the 6 Municipalities that are shareholders of CEM Ambiente Spa
TerrAria, with the support of lawyer Giovanna Landi, assisted CEM Ambiente S.p.A. in a procedure for the selection of a qualified operator for the award, under a service concession scheme, of interventions and services aimed at improving energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy systems. CEM Ambiente Spa is a fully publicly owned company that provides a wide range of environmental services in an integrated and innovative manner.
In this specific case, the technical-legal assistance was financed through the Fondazione Cariplo call “100 Comuni efficienti e rinnovabili”, which supported the cost of technical-legal assistance for municipalities intending to undertake sustainability and energy efficiency pathways for their buildings and public lighting systems.
Within this process, 6 municipalities that are shareholders of CEM Ambiente S.p.A. (Agrate Brianza, Bellusco, Burago di Molgora, Mezzago, Ronco Briantino and Sulbiate) were supported—first in obtaining funding from Fondazione Cariplo to cover assistance costs, and subsequently in launching a procedure to select a private operator, through one of the forms envisaged under Public-Private Partnership pursuant to the Public Contracts Code, tasked with carrying out the required interventions and services.
The tender was launched in 2015 with an investment value of € 1’250’000, excluding VAT. It was awarded to an Italian ESCo (Energy Service Company), which is currently the concessionaire of the services included in the tender, having completed all required interventions as well as those deemed necessary to achieve a defined energy efficiency threshold. This threshold was set in the tender at a minimum of 20%, calculated on the municipalities’ consumption levels at the time the tender was issued.
The service represented a highly innovative process, as briefly outlined below:
- The tender covered 6 municipalities, which agreed to undertake a joint, coordinated pathway supported by CEM Ambiente S.p.A., of which they are shareholders, in order to create a sufficiently large and attractive scope for private investment. This result was achieved to the satisfaction of all municipalities, but required a particularly long and complex shared preparation process;
- It was necessary to collect consumption data for 20 municipally owned buildings across the different municipalities, characterised by electricity consumption of approximately 985’000 kWh and natural gas consumption of approximately 540’000 Smc, as well as the management and maintenance (as third-party operator) of thermal systems in 37 public buildings located within the same municipalities, for a period of at least 180 months;
- The municipal administrations involved expressed their needs in terms of interventions and services required or preferred to improve their consumption levels, both in terms of economic cost and energy reduction, in order to enhance environmental performance and achieve savings;
- A “baseline” was therefore established and used as a technical reference framework for bidders, enabling them to formulate their proposals for improved services, and forming the basis for structuring the tender.
As noted above, the tender procedure was managed by CEM Ambiente S.p.A. acting as the contracting authority on behalf of the 6 municipalities. All strategic decisions (e.g. type of contract, type of tender procedure, etc.) were shared among all stakeholders, ensuring transparency and collaboration.
It is worth noting that the tender represented one of the first national experiences of procurement procedures for energy efficiency services promoted by a group of public entities (in this case, 6 municipalities) joining forces to select a single operator to manage their public buildings (schools, libraries, offices, etc.) over a significant period, in order to achieve substantial energy savings and environmental protection outcomes.
Following the award, the successful operator signed an EPC (Energy Performance Contract) with each of the municipalities for the provision of services within each territory.
THE ROLE OF TERRARIA
TerrAria carried out a detailed survey of all buildings covered by the contract, conducting site inspections and surveys at schools, public buildings and sports facilities. It then prepared an energy assessment for each building, describing the current condition of the asset and mapping potential interventions in terms of energy benefits, payback time and associated costs. A specific section was also dedicated to estimating potential incentives obtainable through Conto termico 2.0.
Based on the building stock survey and data collection, TerrAria developed the “Baseline”, a reference and management tool for the contract throughout the concession period. Furthermore, with the support of lawyer Giovanna Landi, it:
- Prepared all tender documentation (from tender rules to technical specifications, draft contract and technical annexes…);
- Supported the Central Purchasing Body during both the tender publication phase and the award phase;
- Provided support, in its role as verification commissioner, in monitoring the contract for the first 3 years after signing, in order to verify estimates relating to fees: maintenance, supply and savings.
