Electrocentrale București (ELCEN) has completed the first stage of the procurement procedure for a new high-efficiency cogeneration plant at CTE Grozăvești, an investment estimated at approximately 600 million lei. Candidates that met the qualification criteria will now enter the second stage of a competitive dialogue, where technical and economic solutions will be examined and developed before final offers are submitted.
Qualification has cleared the way for technical dialogue
ELCEN said it has finished evaluating the documentation submitted in the first stage of the procedure. Candidates that fulfilled the qualification criteria have been selected to continue, although the source does not state how many firms remain in the process. The next phase will examine and develop technical and economic solutions against ELCEN’s requirements and the investment’s objectives. Participants still in the procedure will later be invited to submit final offers based on the solutions established during the dialogue. The announcement came as the project moved from assessing candidate capability towards shaping the deliverable that will be priced and offered.
How competitive dialogue works
Competitive dialogue is intended for complex projects where the contracting authority may need to discuss possible approaches with qualified firms before asking for final offers. In this case, the process began with qualification documentation rather than a final design and price. ELCEN can use the dialogue stage to analyse and develop the technical and economic variants proposed or discussed with the participants, while keeping the investment requirements as the reference point. Once the solutions are established, the remaining participants submit final offers on that basis. The mechanism therefore separates selection to continue from the later competition over complete final proposals.
The proposed plant and its financing
The Grozăvești project covers a new facility producing electricity and heat at the same time. It is planned with an installed capacity of 32.5 MW electric and 41 MW thermal, using a gas turbine and a heat-recovery boiler. ELCEN says the plant is designed to achieve overall efficiency of 81.05%. It will operate on natural gas but be prepared to use hydrogen in a mixture, depending on the development and availability of that technology. The estimated investment is approximately 600 million lei and has non-reimbursable financing through the Modernisation Fund. ELCEN says the project should reduce primary energy use and greenhouse-gas emissions and improve supply security.
Grozăvești is one of three planned replacements
ELCEN places Grozăvești within a modernisation programme estimated at approximately 5 billion lei, also covering new capacity at CTE București Sud and CTE Progresu. București Sud, planned with 275 MW electric and 214 MW thermal capacity, has passed candidate evaluation, with qualifying firms selected for the next phase. Progresu is planned as a thermal-engine plant with 74.2 MW electric and 72.8 MW thermal capacity; it too has completed the first stage of competitive dialogue, with selected candidates due to enter the second. The company says the three investments will gradually replace older installations with facilities that are more efficient and flexible.
| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Estimated Grozăvești investment | Approximately 600 million lei |
| Grozăvești electrical capacity | 32.5 MW |
| Grozăvești thermal capacity | 41 MW |
| Designed overall efficiency | 81.05% |
| Fuel and future readiness | Natural gas, with preparation for hydrogen in a mixture |
| Modernisation programme | Approximately 5 billion lei |
Candidates selected after qualification will enter the second stage of the competitive dialogue before final offers are submitted.
WHY IT MATTERS
The project shows how a contracting authority can use competitive dialogue when a complex construction and energy scheme requires solutions to be developed before final prices are offered. Grozăvești has moved beyond qualification, but the source does not say that a construction contract has been awarded. Candidates still have to take part in the dialogue and submit final offers.
Reported from digi24.ro, 2026-11-12. The Tender Wire is published by Otnox.
