3. Case study: The procurement of street lighting in Bratislava
This chapter puts the spotlight on how Bratislava can use public procurement strategically to improve a concrete example of public service, i.e. street lighting. The first section analyses the role of street lighting in citizens’ quality of life and in advancing Bratislava’s smart city agenda. It offers an overview of the current street lighting system in Bratislava and points out the need to renew it. The second section delves into how to design a tailored public procurement strategy on street lighting. It does so by providing methodological guidance on the analysis of needs, market engagement and tender design.
Cities across the world are using street lighting solutions to improve public service delivery and solve issues related to public safety, air and water quality, mobility, among others. Technology developments in cities involving street lighting projects are also a key component of smart city initiatives. These initiatives are also intended to ensure that all people have access to services and to improve their quality of life. Street lighting enables the provision of different services ranging from safety to health, by reducing crime and vehicle accidents for example. Switching from traditional lighting operations to intelligent lighting networks can help improve public service delivery by reducing energy consumption, improving public safety and the efficiency of maintenance. However, procuring street lighting systems is a constant challenge for cities, especially as they typically entail large upfront costs. The city of Bratislava is in the process of launching several tenders to procure its new street lighting system. This chapter highlights the role of street lighting in providing better services to citizens and aims at supporting Bratislava in the development of the procurement strategy for its street lighting project.
3.1.1. The role of street lighting in the provision of public services to citizens
Street lighting is a key public service for citizens as it improves safety for both pedestrians and vehicles. For example, street lighting helps make streets safer, particularly for women and girls. Gender-balance violence (GBV) against women and girls is a complex phenomenon that exists in many different forms and may be experienced not only within family and intimate relationships but also in public spaces (OECD, 2021[1])). While many policies and programmes are needed towards the eradication of GBV, better street lighting, combined with a wider monitoring system, can be a key step towards preventing sexual violence in the streets. This can have a relevant impact in Bratislava, for example, where women represented 53% of the total population in 2020 (Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic, 2021[2]).
The provision of street lighting enables different public services ranging from safety to health. Not only can the improvement in safety support the health system by helping reduce risks of accidents and crimes, the use of smart sensors, for example, can also help monitor air, chemical and pollen pollution, and release audio warnings for storms and other imminent dangers. Furthermore, street lighting also includes an aesthetic dimension that makes cities more attractive for tourists.
The functioning of a street lighting system requires different components such as:
The installation of these components requires various engineering services and public works such as excavation. The functioning of the street lighting system also requires regular maintenance and the use of a control and management system (CMS). The CMS is comprised of hardware installed in/on luminaires to provide at least the option to switch on/off the luminaire, set the dimming profile and provide basic data about the luminaires, for example if they are working, failing and need to be replaced or even if the communication with a luminaire was temporarily lost. The CMS also has hardware installed in cabinets to provide an option to switch on/off the whole cabinet and energy measurement on electrical inputs and outputs setting the notifications on fault situations when the expected consumption is not met, for instance. Finally, the CMS usually includes software to provide options to set the switching/dimming profiles, visualisation of measurements, evidence of the failures, scheduling the maintenance plans and public access for failure reporting, among others. Figure 3.1 provides an overview of the key elements of a street lighting system. When cities aim to implement a new street lighting system, they should consider all the components needed during the lifespan of the infrastructure to be able to choose the most efficient solution and to avoid facing interoperability issues.
3.1.2. Street lighting to enhance the future of smart cities
Many cities have been investing in street lighting projects to advance their smart city strategies and provide better services for citizens. Through smart street lighting systems, cities aim to improve security, achieve energy efficiency, reduce maintenance costs, ensure better data management and generate revenue. Box 3.1 provides an example of smart sensors and equipment that can be used in street lighting projects. In practice, local authorities have fixed data points that are already pre-powered to act as a base for additional sensors. A smarter street lighting system offers the opportunity to control the output of every luminaire.
Charging pile
Source: ZATA (2020[3]), Smart Street Lighting Sensor, https://www.zataiot.com/zaq-air-quality-sensor-on-smart-street-lights-all-in-one/#cp1 (accessed on 8 April 2021).
From street lighting projects to the entire integration with Internet of Things (IoT) networks, cities are realising the potential in street lighting systems as a vehicle to advance their smart city agenda (Box 3.2) (OECD, 2020[4]) as well as crime detection and traffic crash prevention. For example, in 2021, the city of Atlanta, United States (US), announced an expansion of 10 000 streetlights in targeted areas as part of the One Atlanta—Light Up the Night crime and traffic crash prevention initiative. The city estimates that crime could decrease by as much as 20% in neighbourhoods through streetlight intervention. The possibility of connecting other devices (e.g. cameras, traffic information boards, sensors, etc.) to this control can also contribute to increasing the safety of residents and visitors to the city (e.g. pedestrians, drivers, cyclists, visitors, etc.).
Cities can use the data available to manage better public services for citizens. Data is available in motion sensors and cameras, for example, and it could be used to map traffic flows and identify the best schedule for maintenance. In addition, smart sensors increase revenue opportunities with add-ons available for different advertising opportunities and Wi-Fi hotspots. However, when adding smart sensors to the street lighting system that may transmit data, cities need to consider data privacy by not collecting data on citizens without their consent. In addition, cities can use the street lighting system to communicate with citizens. For instance, during the COVID-19 pandemic, street lighting systems provided alerts and updates on the COVID-19 situation.
Many cities have been investing in street lighting projects to advance their smart cities strategies:
In 2020, the city of Tokyo, Japan, launched a new street lighting project as part of its smart city strategy to shape safer, more effective and fairer urban development. The project is developed with the NEC Corporation and will be connected to a citywide network. With the new eco-friendly infrastructure, all networked street lights can be centrally managed to save energy and optimise maintenance needs.
In 2018, the city of Dijon, France, established a consortium to develop the first centralised and connected solution for city management of its kind in Europe. The project aims to: reduce costs significantly (e.g. by 65% on the energy bill related to street lighting); upgrade and better manage urban equipment (e.g. street lighting upgrade, planning repair and renewal); better co-ordinate services (road network maintenance and waste collection); and improve public safety (via centralised solutions for crisis management). Some of the technologies provide citizens with a smarter system of street lighting, Wi-Fi, closed-circuit television (CCTV), audio animation and smart traffic management.
In the city of Wipperfürth, Germany, a city-wide intelligent lighting network has been installed and feeds local information to the smartphones of citizens and visitors via Bluetooth. By using a downloadable application, smartphone users can access information about local retailers, special offers, company information, directional aides and smart parking.
The city of London and the Borough of Barking and Dagenham, United Kingdom (UK), is deploying more than 28 000 smart street lights via a platform-as-a-service solution. The platform ensures 100% coverage in the dense urban setting where cellular technology is often unavailable. The deployment of smart lighting will help to achieve energy savings goals, lead to a reduction of operational costs, improve service reliability and function as a platform for future smart applications.
Bristol City Council, UK, has replaced the city’s original street lighting with a new energy-efficient solution to substantially reduce operating costs, increase safety and create ideal driving conditions. The city has replaced 20 000 street lights, generating cost savings of GBP 1 million per year.
In San Jose and Los Angeles, US, as well as in Barcelona, Spain, smart lighting solutions are used to provide mobile broadband connectivity. Light poles can be remotely managed and offer a Wi-Fi hotspot that improves mobile network performance across the cities.
Source: OECD (2020[4]),, “Smart cities and inclusive growth: Building on on the outcomes of the 1st OECD Roundtable on Smart Cities and Inclusive Growth”, https://www.oecd.org/cfe/cities/OECD_Policy_Paper_Smart_Cities_and_Inclusive_Growth.pdf; Gelsin, A. (2017[5]), “Multiple benefits of smart street lighting solutions in smart cities”, https://hub.beesmart.city/en/solutions/the-multiple-benefits-of-smart-lighting.
However, providing street lighting represents a cost for the local government. Approval processes for funding may be long and require multi-year budgeting practices to secure resources for the implementation of the project. Cities may also need to get funding from different sources and upgrade their procurement practices to ensure value for money when engaging in this sort of project (OECD, 2020[6]). Some municipalities still use outdated and inefficient street lighting facilities, which leads to higher energy consumption and increased maintenance costs. Therefore, life cycle costing (LCC) is becoming an even more relevant topic for street lighting in many cities (see section 3.2.2). Public services can be improved by switching from traditional lighting operations to intelligent lighting networks. Networked LED street lighting systems can help cities reduce the energy use of existing street light systems and reduce operations and maintenance costs. In addition, digital systems can minimise street blockages as remote monitoring allows for faster intervention in case of lighting failures. Furthermore, smart dimming can help manage energy consumption to reduce lighting during low traffic hours or enhance lighting in low-income areas to improve safety. An intelligent energy metering system can improve the accuracy to calculate energy consumption, using varying rates and automatic billing.
Street lighting is also a city’s largest consumer of electricity and requires a significant maintenance budget. For municipalities with older, inefficient systems, the European Commission (EC) estimated that street lighting could account for 30-50% of their total electricity consumption. It is also estimated that nearly 80% of all street lighting lamps used by cities are being phased out and some of them are no longer available for purchase. These older systems also have a key environmental impact, potentially associated with greenhouse gas emissions and light pollution. Setting energy efficiency requirements in procurement to reduce maximum levels of mercury permitted in lamps, for example, can help cities reduce their environmental impact (EC, 2015[7]).
3.1.3. Snapshot of the street lighting system in place in Bratislava
An overview of the current street lighting system
Bratislava’s public lighting system was fully modernised and reconstructed between 1996 and 2003. The Modernisation and Reconstruction of Public Lighting project replaced all public lighting luminaires and 12 000 lighting poles, including power lines, with the goal of ensuring sustainable public lighting for 20 years. Since these interventions, new public lighting investments have been implemented only partially. For instance, since 2003, the lighting system has been extended with new sections, especially in areas of new construction. Some lighting points have been removed and part of the original system has been retrofitted. However, there is still a significant part of the original lighting system that dates back to the 1970s, which is far beyond its expected lifespan. As a result, many parts of the lighting system (especially power lines, poles and booms) are outdated and require urgent investments.
According to the city, public lighting in Bratislava consists of approximately 47 000 luminaires that are connected to approximately 800 switching cabinets. High-pressure sodium (HPS) street lights are one of the most common street lights used in Bratislava (accounting for 90% of all luminaires) and are present in large areas, manufacturing sites, roadways, parks and parking areas. Bratislava aims to retrofit its HPS street lights with more efficient and eco-friendly LED lights. This new technology would demand high investments, including in terms of the poles and luminaires that the city will need to procure (see section 3.1.1).
The current situation is challenging in the medium to long term, potentially endangering citizen health, property and safety. The most pressing problems of Bratislava’s current public lighting system include: i) the significant increase in the failure rate of low wattage lamps; ii) corrosion of poles; iii) deterioration of the power factor of the public lighting equipment due to the age of the equipment, resulting in penalties for non-compliance with the power factor by the distribution network operator. Furthermore, Bratislava highlighted an alarming increase in the number of fault reports in recent years.
Bratislava’s contract on street lighting was scheduled to expire in 2017. However, since then, the city has been renewing the contract with the same supplier on a yearly basis. Recently, the national Public Procurement Office (PPO) imposed a fine of EUR 78 948 on the city of Bratislava related to the first extension of the contract. The PPO claimed that the legal conditions for extending the contract had not been met and that the city’s arguments on technical and time reasons did not hold since the municipality did not address the need to procure the street lighting system sufficiently in advance.
In 2018, the city of Bratislava launched a tender to renew its street lighting system but the contract was not awarded. According the different stakeholders, the failure of this tender was due to the lack of clarity and the complexity of the tender specifications, underlining the challenges related to poor planning. The current administration is working on a different approach to procuring the street lighting system, as described in the following section.
Important investments in the street lighting system are required
Bratislava is launching a new street lighting project in 2021. The goal is to have public lighting fully covered with smart LEDs within five years (by 2025), with estimated savings of more than 40% on total energy consumption. Compared to its previous approach, the city decided to adopt a new procurement approach: instead of awarding one single contract to an economic operator to operate and maintain the street lighting system, it decided to divide the contract into several investments described in Table 3.1.
Bratislava has identified the need to renew and/or replace the current infrastructure to enable the use of smart technologies and sensors. The reconstruction of the infrastructure includes the replacement and/or addition of cable lines and the replacement of power supply points and outdated luminaires with new LED light sources. Given the lifespan of the infrastructure and the investment cost, the city decided to divide the project into two phases. The first phase of investment includes the replacement of part of the poles, public works, luminaires and the new CMS. The second part of investment in public lighting in Bratislava involves “infrastructural interventions” that need to be conducted within the next ten years, which includes the replacement of 18 000 lighting poles and 750 km of in-ground cables, which will be outdated and potentially dangerous in the coming years.
However, the street lighting project is still missing a holistic approach, as it requires closer co-ordination among departments at the city level, as well as between the city and the regional and national government. Although in close contact with the PPO at the national level and with the Metropolitan Institute and procurement department at the city level, the energy department of the city of Bratislava has not liaised with some relevant stakeholders, such as the innovation team, the transport department, the environment department, etc. The energy department is identifying potential synergies between the street lighting project and district-level investments but there is yet no integrative tool in place. Considering the different players involved, multi-level governance is key to securing the necessary funding to implement the project and support the adequate planning of procurement activities.
3.2.1. Translating planned investments into procurement opportunities
The city of Bratislava has started its ambitious project of renewing the street lighting system in place over a ten-year period. It has already procured some street poles and started with a pilot project for the procurement of park luminaires for EUR 0.5 million. It is currently preparing a larger tender on street and park luminaires with an estimated value of EUR 5 million. Bratislava plans to replace 25% of the luminaires in 2022. It also awarded a contract on public works using dynamic purchasing systems (DPS) in 2021. After awarding the larger contract on luminaires, the city will develop the tender documentation on the CMS. Table 3.2 provides an overview of procurement opportunities that will be implemented by Bratislava for the street lighting project.
Given the budget constraints and the fact that the city cannot commit to procurement activities in the long term, many procurement activities that are necessary are not yet planned. In fact, multi-year budgeting is only possible in Bratislava with a maximum of 3 years, which is much lower than the lifespan of the street lighting system (approximately 20 years). Therefore, many procurement opportunities cannot be planned and committed to in the long term.
In addition to the elements described in the table above, the city of Bratislava is aiming at procuring further smart equipment, including low power charging stations for e-vehicles (for some poles under a pilot project), traffic monitoring, environmental monitoring, cameras, Wi-Fi and advertising screens. While these components are not part of the street lighting project and related procurement operations, they are included in other projects of the city. Therefore, the street lighting project foresees the provision of electrical and data networks to use these components. A key challenge Bratislava will need to address is related to the interoperability between the different data systems. This challenge should be addressed when developing technical specifications for the different tenders.
3.2.2. The key role of market analysis and needs assessment
For a sound market engagement and analysis
As described in Section 2.1.2, market analysis has a clear impact on the development of technical specifications and on the performance of the contract. As value for money is the primary objective of public procurement, public buyers have to develop an environment that is conducive to competition by reducing the asymmetry of information with economic operators (OECD, 2017[8]). The Street and Roadway Lighting Market is complex as it is segmented by lighting type (conventional and smart lighting), light source (LEDs, fluorescent lamps, and high-intensity discharge lamps), offering (hardware, software), power (below 50W, between 50-150W, more than 150W), end user (highways, street and roadways), and geography (Mordor Intelligence, 2021[9]). Therefore, a sound market analysis is key to understanding the main players in the market and the capacity of the market to respond to the city’s needs and reduce the asymmetry of information. In addition to identifying the main players and the solutions available on the market, this process also helps identify potential interoperability issues, technological changes and vendor lock-in. This holds particularly true given the procurement strategy adopted by the city of Bratislava, moving from one contract for the operation and maintenance of the system to several procurement contracts for different procurement categories.
As mentioned earlier, the city of Bratislava launched a tender in 2018 to renew its street lighting system, which was cancelled. According to some stakeholders, the initial tender developed and published by the city in 2018 was too complicated, triggering many questions from economic operators. This situation highlights the challenges related to the lack of market engagement and understanding of the market environment.
For the procurement of park luminaires, the city launched a tender in 2021 and five economic operators submitted a tender. This pilot exercise helped identify different areas of improvement, including the award criteria set (75% on price and 25% on quality) and the methodology to estimate the value of the contract. Bratislava used the data from the current contract to estimate the unit price of park luminaires. However, the contract price of the awarded contract was approximately three times lower than the estimated ones. While no formal feedback mechanism has been implemented, Bratislava would benefit from such mechanisms to improve its upcoming tender documentation. This is particularly relevant in the framework of pilot projects because they are used to assess project results before implementing a larger-scale project.
To improve suppliers’ understanding of the procurement process, receive open feedback on their bids/proposals and identify areas for improvement while encouraging their participation in future tenders, public buyers could be encouraged to organise physical meetings with individual bidders, following a methodology described in Box 3.3.
Supplier assessment
Describe the evaluation strategy and criteria (e.g. compliance issues, weighting and scoring).
Outline the size of the field and supplier’s relative position (e.g. to the mean score for different criteria).
Show how supplier scored against main criteria (strengths as well as weaknesses).
Offer constructive criticism and ways to improve future bids.
For large and complex procurement projects, such as the street lighting ones, it is highly recommended to inform the market in advance. In this framework, the publication of a prior information notice (PIN) could have a positive impact on competition. The PIN can be published up to 12 months ahead of the planned launch of the tender and should contain some basic information regarding the goods or services to be purchased (EU, 2014[11]). Bratislava has planned to use it for the procurement of services for the CMS of the street lighting system. However, the city did not plan to publish a PIN for the procurement of luminaires. While participants in the pilot project are aware of the upcoming procurement opportunity, not all players on the market have access to the same level of information. Bratislava could therefore benefit from publishing a PIN as soon as possible for the larger procurement of luminaires. For instance, the city of Paisley, UK, issued a PIN for the procurement of street lighting two months ahead of the publication of the tender (TED, 2018[12]).
While the PIN helps signal upcoming procurement opportunities to the market, the development of the tender documentation, particularly for complex procurements such as street lighting, requires other types of market engagement activities, such as meeting with some key suppliers, open events with suppliers, etc. (see section 2.1.2). An example of an efficient mechanism is to organise direct discussions with the private sector. However, public buyers are often wondering what kind of meetings are more effective: meetings with individual suppliers or a single meeting with different economic operators. Table 3.3 maps the possible benefits and risks of meetings with individual vs. multiple EOs. Given the benefits of both types of meetings and the large investments required, Bratislava could consider undertaking both types of meetings. In any case, public buyers have to adopt an “open agenda”, which obliges procurement officials to disclose every meeting they have with the private sector, in order to ensure a level field for competition (OECD, 2009[13]).
Understanding citizens’ needs
Citizens are the main end users of the street lighting system. As mentioned in section 1.1.4, it is pivotal to understand end users’ needs, in particular for large infrastructure projects like the one on street lighting that requires important investments over the next two decades. Citizen feedback and engagement is important for accountability reasons and because procurement and investment choices might have an impact on their daily life.
The city of Bratislava claims it has a good understanding of citizen needs by using the information collected through its application and webpage where any interested party, including citizens, can send specific requests or complaints. While these kinds of tools are important to identify failures of the street lighting system, they are just one aspect of engagement. Box 3.4 provides an overview of the citizen engagement activities for the street light dimming project of Sheffield City Council in the UK. The city of Bratislava could consider reinforcing citizen engagement and the collection of their needs for the street lighting project. This could be done, for instance, by organising meetings with citizens to assess their needs and collect their feedback. This could also be done using digital tools and questionnaires.
Overview
In common with many other local authorities and as part of the sustainability agenda, Sheffield City Council is proposing to lower the intensity of street lighting in residential areas across the city. If approved, the changes will support the recently launched Climate Emergency plans, which encourages approaches in support of a lower carbon economy and a reduction in CO2 emissions. The proposals will see street lights switch on responsively at 80% instead of the current 84% before midnight and reduce from 54% to 40% at midnight until 6 am.
The city council wished to emphasise that the proposed level of dimmed lighting levels will still comply with British Standard Specification BS 5489-1 2013, which is the national standard for lighting levels followed by local highway authorities. The city council wants to do this for several reasons:
1. It will enable the city to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and therefore the contribution to climate change. The city estimates that the proposed reduced lighting across the city will save 380 tonnes of carbon emissions.
2. It will enable the city to save on the cost of electricity used for street lighting, thereby helping to reduce the financial pressure on already stretched council services.
3. It will enable the city to reduce light pollution and its likely negative effects on residents’ sleep patterns, certain nocturnal animals and plant species. Reduced light pollution will also enable people to derive greater enjoyment from the night sky.
The council plans to trial the reduced lighting levels in three districts of the city – Crosspool, Endcliffe and Meersbrook – from Monday 19 August to Friday 13 September 2019. This will ensure that the city has a sound understanding of the impact of the reduced lighting envisaged before deciding whether or not to go ahead with the proposal. Households in the chosen areas will each receive a letter inviting them to attend an information session in their local library.
South Yorkshire Police are aware of the proposal and the council will continue to work with them and other stakeholders to assess and evaluate the impact on communities. The city will also continue to have the ability to raise local lighting levels where it is sensible to do so in response to local circumstances, emergencies or particular events. The city posted on line a briefing note for citizens.
Goal of the consultation
Public consultation events will take place at Broomhill Library and Highfield Library. These events will provide an opportunity for citizens to provide their feedback.
Source: Sheffield City Council (2019[14]), Street Light Dimming Trial Survey, https://sheffield.citizenspace.com/place-business-strategy/street-lighting-consultation/ (accessed on 10 June 2021).
3.2.3. Using the right tools for better procurement outcomes
Setting the right award criteria
The choice of the award criteria together with the technical specifications developed will have a clear impact on competition and procurement outcomes. As mentioned in section 2.1.4, public contracts can be awarded using different methodologies. Given the complexity of the procurement of street lighting components, in particular for the luminaires, it is recommended to use the most economically advantageous tender (MEAT) criteria, the LCC approach (or total cost of ownership) or a combination of both.
Many cities have used the LCC approach to motivate their decision to move to LED lamps instead of HPS lamps (Box 3.5). While the unit price of LED lamps is higher than the price of HPS, the energy cost associated with each type of technology makes LED technology the more affordable option. That is why the city of Bratislava decided to replace HPS with LED luminaires. According to estimates by Bratislava, the replacement of LED lights will result in energy savings of more than 40% (8 000 MWh per year). In financial terms, at current electricity prices, this would represent savings of approximately EUR 1.2 million per year for Bratislava. Another benefit of using LED technology is the possibility of ensuring power supply at all times. Currently, the power supply infrastructure works primarily at night. It is critical to have a power supply also during the day if Bratislava wishes to integrate smart city sensors.
A number of LCC comparisons have been carried out in US cities and towns, where LED uptake for road lighting installations began. Some are briefly described below:
Portland, Oregon, invested USD 18.5 million in replacing 45 000 HPS light points with LED for 50% lower energy consumption — leading to savings of USD 1.5 million per year in reduced energy and maintenance costs. That equates to a payback period of eight years when discount rates are factored in.
Los Angeles, California, invested USD 57 million in replacing 140 000 HPS light points with LED and the energy savings were initially expected to be around 40% but advances in LED technology ahead of the project resulted in greater savings. Together with USD 7.5 million savings in electricity costs, the total annual savings of USD 10 million should result in a payback period of 5 to 6 years. However, the study urged caution in procuring LED solutions, when it was found that only 84 of 244 LED units met the quality specifications set out by the Bureau of Street Lighting website.
Charlotte County, Florida, considered the costs in 2016 of changing their 2 145 light points from HPS to LED lighting. Their existing maintenance costs were assumed to be between USD 28 and USD 55 per light point, depending on the type. The power cost of an HPS light was around USD 12 per month and an LED light was estimated to be USD 6 per month (a 50% reduction). Current energy and maintenance costs (for HPS) are USD 310 000 and USD 80 000 respectively. They concluded that costs for HPS and LED were similar over a 20-year period, but that falling LED costs would soon make it the more economical option.
In Phoenix, Arizona, the conversion of almost 95 000 HPS light points to LED was considered in 2013. Over a period of 10 years, they considered HPS and LED with the following characteristics: energy cost per light per year (HPS: USD 72.36; LED: USD 32.88); fixture cost (HPS: USD 250; LED: USD 475); fixture installation (HPS: USD 29; LED: USD 29); and lamp life (HPS: 20 000 hours; LED: 50 000 hours). In conclusion, they found that LED was around 20% cheaper over a period of 10 years. Applied to the city of Phoenix, this equated to around USD 5 million per year once the whole system was converted. For a USD 1 million investment in LED, a 9-year simple payback period was calculated.
Source: EC (2019[15]), EU Green Public Procurement Criteria for Road Lighting and Traffic Signals, https://ec.europa.eu/environment/gpp/pdf/toolkit/181210_EU_GPP_criteria_road_lighting.pdf.
However, in addition to the choice of the technology used, different parameters need to be considered to assess the real cost for the city, including the unit price of each luminaire, energy costs and maintenance/operation costs.
Even when using the same technology, the quality of the equipment might entail different costs that need to be assessed. However, according to the city of Bratislava, many costs such as maintenance cannot be calculated, as these depend on different parameters that cannot be known in advance (e.g. electricity price, frequency of maintenance, etc.). These challenges limit the possibility to use the LCC approach to compare different bids.
In addition to cost elements, other award criteria can be used, such as the quality (including lighting quality and design) and the warranty and availability of spare parts. To strengthen the sustainability approach, a criterion could also be added to the design for recycling. Box 3.6 provides two examples of award criteria and their weighting with and without a total cost of ownership approach, from the PremiumLight-Pro Consortium project funded by the EC. In its pilot project, Bratislava used MEAT criteria, allocating 75% of the weight to price and 25% to quality. The 25% quality is divided into 5% on technical specifications above the minimum standards, 10% on the annual energy consumption indicator (AECI) and 10% on the power density indicator (PDI). For the larger tender on park and street luminaires, Bratislava could consider using a LCC approach or total cost of ownership, using criteria in relation to the warranty and design for recycling. Bratislava could also consider increasing the weight of the qualitative criteria and other non-price criteria.
For the assessment of the award criteria, a weighting approach is required. For projects where a robust total cost of ownership (TCO) approach can be applied, main aspects including operation and maintenance are already covered and only a few additional parameters like quality, design, warranty and end-of-life aspects are to be added. So, for example, energy consumption and maintenance aspects are already covered in the electricity and maintenance costs and double counting has to be avoided. Consequently, TCO has a large part of the total weight. The weighting of criteria typically has to be adapted to local needs and requirements. Thus, the approach recommended here is just one possible option.
Developing technical specifications taking into account technological developments and environmental considerations
The street lighting area is relatively complex, as it requires technical, legal and financial expertise to choose the best solution. Therefore, when developing technical specifications, it is recommended to use a functional approach. Compared to descriptive technical specifications, designing functional requirements encourages the market to be more innovative, as it gives the suppliers the flexibility to develop a wide range of solutions that respond to a specific need. This method also allows for fair competition between suppliers, therefore providing the public buyers with the best benefit (EC, 2018[17]). Given the rapidly evolving technologies in street lighting, tender documentation should provide enough flexibility to integrate potential changes. For instance, the luminaire efficacy of LED-based lighting is evolving every year and this needs to be reflected in tender documentation (EC, 2018[18]). This challenge holds particularly true when using framework agreements with a duration of four years.
Furthermore, tender specifications for street lighting poles should take into account the possibility of integrating smart sensors and other equipment such as charging stations for electric vehicles and advertisements. According to the city of Bratislava, these elements have been taken into account in the tender launched in 2020.
In addition to technological changes, tender specifications should also consider environmental externalities related to the life cycle of the technology. Figure 3.2 describes the main environmental impacts during the road lighting life cycle and potential approaches to mitigate them in the tender specifications. Many of these approaches have been implemented by Bratislava, such as the proportion of blue light and the upward light output ratio.
Note: The order of the impact does not necessarily reflect their magnitude.
Source: EC (2018[18]), EU GPP Criteria for Road Lighting and Traffic Signals, http://ec.europa.eu/environment/gpp/buying_handbook_en.htm (accessed on 14 June 2021).
Using the adequate efficiency tools
Given the procurement strategy that Bratislava adopted for its street lighting project, the lifespan of the infrastructure and its key role for the provision of public services of citizens, Bratislava could leverage the efficiency tools available in the Slovak Public Procurement Act (PPA) such as DPS and framework agreements. In fact, Bratislava has already used them in some procurement tenders related to the street lighting project. For instance, the city used a DPS for a tender on public works and a framework agreement for a pilot on park lamps but could expand their use.
In general, the decision to use a DPS or a framework agreement depends mainly on the subject matter of the contract. As mentioned in section 2.1.3, the DPS can be used for purchases that are generally available on the market. In addition, a framework agreement has a maximum duration of four years, while there is no time limit for the duration of a DPS given that it is open to EOs throughout its validity. Considering the lifespan of the street lighting project, the DPS could be an adequate efficiency tool for purchases available on the market. Furthermore, the DPS provides the possibility to update the technical specifications considering new developments. In the framework agreement, the technical specification will be constant unless specifically handled in the agreement (EC, forthcoming[19]). One of the reasons why the city did not use a DPS for the pilot project on park lamps is the issue of uniformity. This issue could have been addressed in the technical specifications of the DPS. Bratislava could therefore consider further exploring the benefits of DPS in the framework of the street lighting project.
References
[15] EC (2019), EU Green Public Procurement Criteria for Road Lighting and Traffic Signals, European Commission, https://ec.europa.eu/environment/gpp/pdf/toolkit/181210_EU_GPP_criteria_road_lighting.pdf.
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