Key Takeaways

• 45% of above-threshold energy tenders weight sustainability with over 30 points

• The EU Green Deal drives the volume for renewable energies in public procurement up by 22%

• Munich and Hamburg lead the list of the most active cities in public procurement in Germany in 2025

• AI-supported concept analyses reduce the effort for CSRD documentation in the bid by 40%

Introduction

How heavily do procurement offices weight ecological factors in the energy sector? According to an analysis of 374,098 above-threshold notices (TED Europe, ForgentAI analysis), 45% of energy tenders in 2025 require specific environmental documentation. For companies, this means a fundamental shift in bid processes. Sustainability criteria in tenders refers to the systematic integration of ecological, social, and economic requirements into the evaluation matrix of public procurement procedures. Alongside price, these criteria decisively determine the award and, in the energy sector, often include CO2 footprints, supply chain documentation, or detailed CSRD reports. Those who ignore these requirements lose valuable evaluation points and risk formal exclusion from the procedure. The public sector uses its market power deliberately to drive the energy transition forward. Bidders must therefore tailor their concepts in a data-driven and precise manner to the respective requirements of the procurement offices to succeed in the competitive environment of above-threshold procurement.

Contents

• How does the EU Green Deal influence sustainable public procurement?

• What volumes and trends do energy tenders show in 2025?

• Which award criteria dominate renewable energy procurement?

• How can CSRD requirements be used strategically in the bid?

• Methodology: Data Basis of the 2025 TED Analysis

• Frequently Asked Questions about Sustainability Criteria in Tenders

How does the EU Green Deal influence sustainable public procurement?

The legal frameworks for the procurement of energy and infrastructure projects are continuously tightening at the European and national levels. The principles of procurement under § 97 GWB explicitly require the consideration of qualitative, social, and environmental aspects alongside pure economic efficiency. According to an analysis of 120 above-threshold EU procedures by the Competence Center for Innovative Procurement (KOINNO), the EU Green Deal drives the volume for renewable energies in public procurement up by 22%. This development transforms sustainable public procurement from a mere compliance exercise into a strategic competitive factor for all market participants. Contracting authorities in the utilities sector, which are subject to the Sector Ordinance (SektVO), increasingly demand detailed documentation on the climate neutrality of the offered services and products.

Tip: Integrate standardized text modules for CO2 footprints and supply chain documentation into your central bid library. This significantly reduces the manual effort when answering recurring qualification criteria in above-threshold procedures.

The specific requirements vary greatly depending on the contracting authority and project volume. While some procurement offices merely request ISO certificates during the qualification check, others demand complex calculation models for the entire lifecycle of the facilities as part of the award criteria. Bidders must examine the extensive procurement documents precisely to provide the required documentation on time and in a formally correct manner. Missing or imprecise documents almost always lead to direct exclusion from the procurement procedure in the strictly regulated above-threshold sector. The legal requirements force bidders into precise documentation.

What volumes and trends do energy tenders show in 2025?

The market for public contracts in the energy sector is massive and highly fragmented. In Germany alone, there are over 30,000 procurement offices that regularly place contracts (Source: Public tenders are Germany's next growth engine). The TED database provides a clear picture of above-threshold procurement activities for the year 2025 and shows how strongly ecological criteria permeate the market.

Data: 45% of above-threshold energy tenders in Germany weight sustainability with over 30 points in the evaluation matrix.

TED Europe, ForgentAI analysis

A detailed look at the regional distribution of tender volumes reveals clear geographic focal points. Munich and Hamburg rank among the most active cities in public procurement in Germany in 2025. Munich leads the statistics with 939 above-threshold notices, closely followed by Hamburg with 902 procedures (TED Europe, ForgentAI analysis). This strong concentration on large metropolitan regions reflects the enormous investment need in urban heating networks, smart power grids, and comprehensive charging infrastructure. For energy companies, this means that scarce sales resources must be deliberately directed at these urban hotspots to maximize the chances of winning.

The analysis of above-threshold procedure types also shows that public contracting authorities increasingly rely on negotiated procedures and competitive dialogues to refine complex technical concepts together with bidders. Energy tenders play a central role here, as standardized products are often insufficient to achieve the specific, locally defined climate goals of the municipalities. Bidders must convince not only on price in these procedures but also demonstrate profound technical expertise during the concept phase. Regional focal points define the sales strategy.

Which award criteria dominate renewable energy procurement?

The analysis of the largest buyers provides valuable insights into the structure of the award criteria. In Baden-Württemberg, Deutsche Bahn dominates as the absolute top buyer in the infrastructure and energy sector. DB Projekt Stuttgart-Ulm GmbH recorded exactly 565 above-threshold notices in 2025, followed by DB Netz AG with 564 procedures (TED Europe, ForgentAI analysis). In such major projects, renewable energy procurement is strongly tied to specific, often highly complex award criteria. The pure bid price often accounts for only 40 to 50 percent of the total evaluation in these procedures, while qualitative and ecological concepts tip the scales.

The manual evaluation of these multi-layered evaluation matrices costs bid management teams valuable days and ties up resources that are missing for the actual concept creation. This is where the technological shift in modern bid processing becomes apparent. While a generic AI like ChatGPT often summarizes imprecisely when dealing with complex sector ordinances, a domain-specific AI recognizes the exact weightings of the award criteria from the procurement documents. According to experts, foundation models often achieve an accuracy of only 50 to 80 percent when extracting domain-specific procurement documents (Source: 'Trust nothing you haven't tested yourself'). Specialized systems operate much more reliably in this highly regulated environment.

The AI extracts the required CO2 limits from the hundreds of pages of the specification. The Bid Manager then decides on the strategic direction of the bid. This efficient division of labor ensures that no hidden criteria are overlooked and that the subject matter experts can dedicate their time entirely to developing the technical concept. Precise data extraction secures the competitive advantage.

How can CSRD requirements be used strategically in the bid?

The introduction of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) forces European companies to disclose their sustainability data in detail. In public procurement, this standardized data is increasingly used as a hard qualification criterion. An evaluation of 45 pilot projects at ForgentAI shows that AI-supported concept analyses reduce the manual effort for compiling CSRD documentation in the bid by up to 40%.

Source: TED Europe, ForgentAI analysis. Sample: above-threshold procurement in Germany, 2025, n=374,098.

The table illustrates the strong market concentration in a few metropolises. Those who want to win public contracts in these cities must not only formally fulfill the CSRD requirements but proactively position them as a strength in the bid. An excellently developed sustainability concept often compensates for a higher bid price in the evaluation matrix. The systematic preparation of Scope 3 emissions data, recycling rates, and social standards in the supply chain thus becomes the absolute core competency of successful bidders in the energy sector. Companies that can automatically retrieve this data and transfer it precisely into the required forms of the procurement offices scale their participation rate significantly. Which of these CSRD requirements currently causes your bid management the greatest difficulties?

Methodology: Data Basis of the 2025 TED Analysis

This analysis is based on data from Tenders Electronic Daily (TED), the official portal for European public contracts. The investigation period covers the years 2024 to 2026, with the anchor year 2025. The sample includes n=374,098 above-threshold notices in Germany. Below-threshold procurement, especially smaller municipal purchases, is not included in this dataset. The actual public procurement market for energy companies is consequently much larger. This methodological limitation ensures that only EU-wide procurement procedures with standardized data structures are included in the analysis.

Frequently Asked Questions about Sustainability Criteria in Tenders

What are typical sustainability criteria in tenders?

Typical criteria include documentation of CO2 emissions, the use of recycled materials, energy efficiency standards of the offered facilities, and social aspects in the supply chain. In the above-threshold sector, procurement offices increasingly demand certified environmental management systems such as EMAS or ISO 14001 as mandatory qualification criteria.

How heavily are ecological factors weighted?

The weighting varies depending on the procurement office and project. However, 2025 TED data shows that 45% of above-threshold energy tenders in Germany consider sustainability with over 30 out of 100 possible points in the evaluation matrix. Price thus loses relative importance.

Does the Sector Ordinance apply to all energy companies?

The Sector Ordinance (SektVO) applies to contracting authorities operating in the fields of drinking water, energy, and transport supply, as well as postal services. Compared to the classic Procurement Ordinance (VgV), it offers slightly more flexibility in the choice of procedure but also requires strict adherence to the principles of sustainable public procurement.

Data source: Tenders Electronic Daily (TED), Supplement to the Official Journal of the European Union, Publications Office of the European Union (ted.europa.eu). License: CC BY 4.0. Evaluation and analysis by ForgentAI. ForgentAI is not affiliated with the European Union and is neither sponsored nor endorsed by it.

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