A study on the reference values of lost load for the European Union Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators

The European Union Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) has published a public tender (ACER/2026/OP/0016) to commission an eight-month study to define harmonized reference values for the Value of Lost Load (VoLL) across EU Member States. The estimated contract value is €250,000 and the award will be evaluated on quality (60%) and price (40%). The tender was published on 16 July 2026 and requires electronic submission via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal with a submission deadline of 8 September 2026 at 16:00:59 CEST; the procurement dossier includes tender specifications, templates and a draft service contract. Eligible applicants include consultancies, research institutions, universities or consortia with demonstrated expertise in electricity market regulation, reliability metrics and quantitative modelling of lost load.

What it funds

Study for ACER on reference values of lost load

Procurement by the European Union Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) to deliver a technical and economic study establishing reference values of lost load (value of lost load, VOLL) for the EU, including methodology, data analysis and recommendations ¹.

Who can apply:Consulting firms, research organisations or consortia with relevant expertise in electricity market economics, reliability assessment and statistical analysis; tender rules and required forms are in the procurement documents ¹.

1. 1Tender type: services (open eSubmission)
2. 2Lead contracting authority: ACER
3. 3Project duration planned: about 8 months

Applications submitted via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal by the stated deadline; see full tender dossier for selection and award criteria, required declarations and eSubmission instructions ¹.

Footnotes

1. 1Tender details and documents available at Opportunity page.

Summary and purpose

This is a procurement tender issued by the European Union Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) to commission a study on the reference values of lost load. The contract is a service contract (study/consultancy) to deliver an evidence-based analysis and related deliverables on reference values of lost load for use within ACER's regulatory and policy work. The tender is published on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal under call identifier ACER/2026/OP/0016.

Key administrative and procedural information

Tender publication date:16 July 2026. Submission method: mandatory eSubmission through the Funding & Tenders Portal. Tender deadlines: submission deadline/closing date 8 September 2026, 16:00:59 (CEST/Europe/Ljubljana timezone). An open tender event is scheduled for 9 September 2026 at 10:00 (local time) as indicated in procurement documents. There is an additional information request cut-off period ending 31 August 2026. The tender documentation set includes invitation letter, tender specifications, checklists, identification and declaration templates, financial offer form and a draft service contract.

Primary procurement reference and portal link:Call identifier ACER/2026/OP/0016. Full tender documentation and submission are managed via the Funding & Tenders Portal Tender details ¹.

Contract scope, duration and estimated value

Scope:Delivery of a study on reference values of lost load. The procurement project description and tender specifications set out deliverables, timelines and technical requirements; tenderers must consult the Annex I Tender specifications for full details. Planned contract duration: 8 months. Tender validity period requirement: 6 months. Estimated total contract value: €250,000 (estimated overall contract amount). The procurement nature is services (study/consultancy).

Awarding and evaluation

Award criteria:The tender documentation shows a two-criterion award split: quality 60% and price 40%. Tenderers must consult the procurement documents for sub-criteria, scoring methodology, minimum thresholds and required evidence for quality evaluation. The contracting authority indicates that full details and weighting of quality sub-criteria are provided in the procurement documents.

Who can apply and applicant requirements

Legal forms and identification:Annex documents include identification forms for natural persons, private law bodies and public law bodies, a declaration on honour, power of attorney template, list of identified subcontractors, and subcontractor commitment letter. The procurement is open to contractors that can sign the service contract and satisfy selection criteria. The portal indicates SME Suitable: false, meaning the tender is not specifically targeted at SMEs and small entities should check capacity and eligibility. Specific tenderer qualification requests and mandatory procurement selection documentation are listed in the tender specifications and identification annexes.

Eligible applicant types (detailed)

The procurement documentation provides identification templates for natural persons, private law bodies and public law bodies, and allows subcontracting (Annex I F List of identified subcontractors and Annex I G Commitment letter by the subcontractor). Based on the tender documents available the following applicant types are eligible provided they meet the selection and contractual requirements in Annex I: consultancy firms, management consultancies, research institutes, universities, large enterprises, non-profit organisations able to conclude a public contract, individual experts (natural persons) where permitted, public bodies, and consortia or joint bidders formed in accordance with the procurement rules. The tender does not target SMEs specifically (SME suitable indicator: false) so SMEs may participate but must ensure they meet capacity and financial requirements.

Consortium and subcontracting rules:The documentation includes templates that permit identification of subcontractors and requires commitment letters from subcontractors; a power of attorney template is provided for representation. This indicates that subcontracting is allowed and that joint tenders/consortia are feasible subject to the conditions set out in Annex I and the draft service contract.

Geographic and legal eligibility

Beneficiary geographic scope:The contracting authority is ACER, an EU agency. The procurement is published on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal; usual rules for EU agency procurement apply. The tender documents do not explicitly list exclusion of non-EU bidders in the scraped content, but ACER typically allows legal entities established in EU Member States and in entities covered by its legal framework and the procurement rules. Tenderers should consult the tender specifications and the draft service contract for definitive eligibility (including any requirements relating to nationality, establishment, or compliance with public procurement exclusions).

Target sector and technical focus

Target sector:Energy sector, specifically electricity reliability/adequacy and regulatory metrics. The study topic reference values of lost load is a technical and regulatory matter relevant to electricity adequacy assessments, market design and regulatory decision-making. The supplier must be capable of technical/regulatory work on adequacy metrics, reliability standards, quantitative modelling of lost load, scenario analysis and policy-relevant reporting.

Project maturity and expected outputs

Project stage:research and analysis (study). Expected maturity of submitted proposals: contractors should be prepared to deliver applied research, data analysis, modelling, stakeholder consultation, drafting of technical reports and final deliverables for ACER use. The award will produce contracted deliverables within an ~8 month period as defined in the tender specifications.

1. 1Main CPV code: 79400000 (management-related services and related consultancy services).
2. 2Contract type: service contract (study/consultancy).
3. 3Estimated value: €250,000 (estimated overall contract amount).
4. 4Planned duration: 8 months.
5. 5Tender validity: 6 months required.

Submission, deadlines and process stages

Submission method:eSubmission only through the Funding & Tenders Portal. Key dates: submission deadline 8 September 2026, 16:00:59 (CEST). Additional information request deadline 31 August 2026. Open tender event 9 September 2026 at 10:00. Tender documents published 16 July 2026. Consideration/clarification periods and any corrigenda will be published through the portal; tenderers must monitor the portal.

Application stages:The procurement process follows standard eSubmission tender procedure: single-stage submission of technical and financial offer documents (selection and award evaluated in sequence). The published documents include templates for identification, declaration on honour, financial offer form, and draft contract. The supplier should expect at least the following internal stages: 1) completeness and eligibility check, 2) selection/qualification evaluation (eligibility, capacity, financial/technical criteria), 3) award evaluation (quality and price scoring), and 4) contract negotiations/award and signature. Exact number and sequencing of stages are determined by the contracting authority in the tender specifications.

Funding and financial conditions

Funding type:procurement/service contract (ACER will pay for services under a service contract). Beneficiaries will receive monetary payment under the contract terms once milestones/deliverables are accepted and invoiced. The procurement is not a grant, loan or equity instrument; it is a paid service contract procured by ACER. The draft service contract is published as Annex III.

Co-funding:Not applicable in the sense of co-financing required from applicants. This is a public procurement contract where ACER will pay the contracted price for services. There is no requirement in the scraped content for the tenderer to provide co-funding. Tenderers must however bear their own proposal preparation costs and any costs related to subcontracting, and must comply with any financial standing or capacity requirements specified in the selection criteria.

Templates and required documents (as listed)

The procurement package includes the following annexes and templates (all published 16 July 2026 in the call documents): Annex I Tender specifications final (full technical requirements); Annex I A Checklist for tenderers eSub; Annex I B Identification of the tenderer (template); Annex I C Declaration on honour (tender); Annex I D a Identification Form natural person; Annex I D b Identification Form private law body; Annex I D c Identification Form public law body; Annex I E Power of attorney; Annex I F List of identified subcontractors; Annex I G Commitment letter by the subcontractor; Annex II Financial offer (financial offer form); Annex III Draft service contract (PDF). Tenderers must use these templates and follow the instructions in Annex I and the checklist to ensure compliance and admissibility.

Assessment of success rates and competition

Success rates:Not specified in the published tender documentation. As this is a single procurement with an estimated contract value of €250,000, typical success rates for such public tenders are generally low due to competition, but no numerical success rate or number of expected awards is provided in the call information. Tenderers should assume a competitive open tender process evaluated on quality and price.

Contracting authority and contact

Lead contracting authority:European Union Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER). ACER website: acer.europa.eu. Official communications and submissions must be through the Funding & Tenders Portal according to the instructions in the tender documents.

Explicitly mentioned countries and geographic notes

No specific countries are listed in the scraped content as exclusive beneficiaries. The contracting authority is an EU agency, and the tender is published on the EU portal; geographic eligibility should be checked in Annex I but is expected to follow usual EU agency procurement rules regarding legal entities established in EU Member States and possibly other eligible countries as defined in the procurement documents.

1. 1Mentioned country/region: European Union (ACER is an EU agency; procurement published on EU portal).
2. 2No other specific countries are explicitly named in the scraped content.

Technical and subject-matter requirements (high-level)

The tender topic is technical-economic and regulatory:evidence-based analysis of lost load reference values. Tenderers should be prepared to provide expertise in electricity adequacy assessment, reliability metrics, probabilistic modelling of lost load/Value of Lost Load (VOLL) approaches, data collection and processing, scenario analysis, stakeholder consultation, and reporting suitable for a regulatory audience. Specific technical requirements, deliverables, milestones and reporting formats are provided in Annex I Tender specifications and the draft contract.

How to prepare a compliant proposal

Read Annex I Tender specifications carefully for the scope, deliverables, mandatory outputs, and submission instructions. Use the identification templates (Annex I B, I D a/b/c) and Declaration on honour (Annex I C). Complete the financial offer using Annex II Financial offer form. If subcontractors are used, list them in Annex I F and obtain Annex I G commitment letters. If signing on behalf of a legal entity or consortium, include Annex I E Power of attorney if required. Ensure the eSubmission checklist (Annex I A) is followed and all documents are uploaded in the correct eSubmission sections before the deadline. Non-compliant or incomplete submissions risk rejection.

Final summary and recommendation

This procurement is a competitive, public tender to commission a study on reference values of lost load for ACER. It is a service contract with an estimated value of €250,000 and an expected execution period of about eight months. Submission is by eSubmission on the Funding & Tenders Portal by 8 September 2026. The tender is evaluated on quality (60) and price (40). The tender documentation includes a full set of templates and a draft contract. Potential tenderers should be qualified consultancies, research organisations, universities, or expert teams with demonstrable experience in electricity adequacy, reliability metrics and quantitative assessment of lost load. Carefully follow Annex I (Tender specifications) and the checklist, complete the identification and declaration templates, prepare a high-quality technical proposal addressing the quality sub-criteria, and complete the Annex II Financial offer. Monitor the Funding & Tenders Portal for clarifications or updates and ensure timely eSubmission ¹.

Footnotes

1. 1Full tender dossier, templates and eSubmission are available on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal tender page: ec.europa.eu

Opportunity Overview

This is a public tender for a study to establish reference values of the Value of Lost Load (VoLL) for the European Union Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) ¹. The study aims to support ACER in developing a harmonized methodology and reference values for VoLL across the EU, which is critical for setting reliability standards and assessing electricity market adequacy ³⁴.

Tender Reference:8c4c6398-ec03 ².

Key Deadlines

The first deadline (January 1, 2026) has already passed relative to the current date of July 18, 2026. The second deadline (September 8, 2026) remains open for potential submissions if the tender process allows for a second phase or if the initial deadline was for a prior information notice ⁷. Applicants must verify the current status on the official portal EU Funding Portal.

Subject and Scope

The study focuses on defining reference values for VoLL, which represents the maximum electricity price customers are willing to pay to avoid an outage ³. This work complements previous ACER projects, such as the 2023–2024 review of Member States' practices on VoLL methodology, Cost of New Entry, and Reliability Standards ¹.

Regulatory Context:Under Article 11 of Regulation (EU) 2019/943, Member States must establish a single VoLL estimate for their territory and update it at least every five years ⁴.

Eligibility and Applicant Profile

Eligible applicants typically include research institutions, energy consultancies, and economic analysis firms with expertise in electricity market regulation, reliability standards, and cost-benefit analysis. The tender requires a consortium or entity capable of conducting comparative analysis across EU Member States, given the varying VoLL estimates (e.g., €68,887/MWh in the Netherlands vs. lower values in Estonia and Portugal) ²⁶.

1. 1Expertise in Value of Lost Load (VoLL) methodology
2. 2Knowledge of EU Electricity Market Regulation (Regulation 2019/943)
3. 3Capacity for cross-border data collection and analysis
4. 4Experience with ACER or EU agency tenders

Submission and Procurement Process

This tender is published on the Tenders Electronic Daily (TED) portal and the EU Funding & Tenders Portal. For higher-value tenders, electronic submission is mandatory ⁵⁷. Applicants must submit their offer electronically, and if no prior information notice was published, the minimum time limit for submission is 30 days from the contract notice publication ⁷.

Official Source:All details, including tender specifications and evaluation criteria, are available at the primary opportunity URL EU Tender Details.

Footnotes

1. 1Previous ACER project: Review of Member States’ Practices regarding VoLL (09/2023 – 05/2024) FCN RWTH.
2. 2Netherlands VoLL value: €68,887/MWh as a single estimate ACM NL.
3. 3VoLL definition: Maximum price customers pay to avoid outage FSR EUI.
4. 4Regulation (EU) 2019/943, Article 11: Member States must establish and update VoLL every 5 years Emissions-EUETS.
5. 5TED database for EU tenders: Free daily updates Europarl.
6. 6Societal appreciation of energy: VoLL varies by country (€17 Estonia, €24.51 Netherlands, €15.22 Portugal) JRC EU.
7. 7Submission timelines: 30 days minimum if no prior notice; 15 days if prior notice published Your Europe.