Local authorities offered possibility to take part in extensive joint procurement of electric and natural gas-powered cars

 

Local authorities have the possibility to join Finland's largest joint procurement of cars powered by electricity and natural gas. The goal of the joint procurement by the Finnish Environment Institute SYKE and KL-Kuntahankinnat Oy is to promote an increase proportion of greener cars on Finnish roads by significantly increasing the number of cars powered by electricity and natural gas.

"We have initially surveyed the interest felt by local authorities, and the survey indicates that demand for a more climate-friendly alternative exists. Even cautious estimates suggest that a joint procurement could bring 100 electric cars and 100 biogas cars to Finland. The value of the procurement could rise as high as ten million euros. The procurement would also work as a powerful signal to other players for reducing emissions", says Pasi Tainio, an engineer at the Finnish Environment Institute.

The procurement will take place in stages. The marketing of the procurement and getting commitments from the municipalities begin already this year. In the spring of 2018 a technical dialogue for the procurement will take place and the project will be put out to tender. The vehicles will be delivered to the municipalities as of late 2018.  

Lower price, help for tendering out

The aim of the joint procurement is to get as many orders as possible, leading to savings in the cost of the procurement price of the vehicles. The procurement involves both cars and vans.

The joint procurement eases the work of local authorities, as Kuntahankinnat will collectively tender out the vehicles themselves and the terms of their delivery. The vehicles can be acquired through the municipality's own financing or the products of various financial institutions can be used. For instance, Municipal Finance (MuniFin) is currently offering a zero margin for the financing of electric cars. 

If possible, it is hoped that an easy and inexpensive way can be found to include charging points at locations where vehicles are usually parked when they are not in use.

The project is being funded by Sitra, the Finnish Innovation Fund, and it is connected with a broader Low Carbon - Circular Economy Accelerator project where the Finnish Environment Institute and the MuniFin subsidiary Inspira are promoting low-carbon circular economy solutions especially in the municipal sector. The joint procurement supports the goals of the Finnish government to have 250,000 electric cars in Finland by 2030.

Good experiences from joint procurements

Experiences gained from the joint procurements of solar power plants will be utilised in the procurement of electric and gas-powered cars.

In 2016 SYKE and Kuntahankinnat organised a joint procurement of solar power installations for Finnish municipalities, church parishes, communities of municipalities, and municipally-owned businesses. In the first year of the four-year framework agreement nearly 60 solar installations have been delivered to municipalities with a combined output of about 2 MW h. The framework agreement serves 46 organisations.

Further information

Engineer Pasi Tainio, Finnish Environment Institute, tel. +358 29 525 1676, firstname.lastname@ymparisto.fi

Procurement Chief Tomi Holma, KL-Kuntahankinnat Oy, tel. +358 40 754 3527, firstname.lastname@kuntahankinnat.fi

Deputy Director Jon Forssell, Inspira Oy, tel. +358 50 435 4337, firstname.lastname@inspira.fi

Manager, Leasing Daniel Eriksson, MuniFin, tel. +358 50 595 8422,  firstname.lastname@kuntarahoitus.fi