Strengthening the capacities of the IPA bodies for the effective implementation of the Operational Programme on Energy 2024-2027

Contract value and duration:Estimated total value €3,600,000; maximum duration 36 months.

Who can apply:Open to natural persons, legal entities and consortia effectively established in EU Member States or eligible IPA III countries, and to international or regional organisations; selection will shortlist 4 to 8 candidates. Average annual turnover requirement: at least €1,800,000 (last 3 years). Minimum technical references: at least 2 contracts in last 4 years of value >= €1,000,000 each covering relevant policy/programme work and institutional capacity building.

TED reference and publication:TED reference 663176-2026 (Notice 186/2026). TED publication date 25/09/2026. Call for tenders details available via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal Tender details. 1

Estimated contract value and duration:Estimated total contract value €3,600,000. Maximum contract duration 36 months. Award method: best price-quality ratio. Nature of contract: services. Place of performance: Albania.

Purpose:provide technical assistance to strengthen institutional, administrative and operational capacities of the Managing Authority, Intermediate Bodies for Policy and Financial Management, Programme Partners and end recipients involved in implementation of the IPA III Operational Programme on Energy 2024-2027 in Albania. Core support areas include, but are not limited to:

Legal basis:Regulation (EU) No 2021/1529 establishing the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA III). Participation is open to natural persons who are nationals of, and legal persons effectively established in, EU Member States or eligible countries and territories as defined in Article 11 of the IPA III regulation. International and regional organisations may also participate. Sub-contracting is allowed. Capacity-providing entities can be used but must respect eligibility and selection criteria; entities relied upon for economic and financial capacity become jointly and severally liable.

Eligible applicant types:Startups, SMEs, large enterprises, consulting companies, universities, research institutes, non-profit organisations, international or regional organisations, consortia and other legal entities effectively established in EU Member States or IPA-eligible countries. Individuals may participate if eligible under the rules, but the primary expected applicants are legal entities and consortia.

Consortium requirement:Consortia are allowed and anticipated. The procedure is restricted: candidates submit a request to participate and a shortlist of between 4 and 8 candidates will be invited to tender. If participating as a consortium, all members are jointly and severally liable; consortium composition cannot be altered after short-listing except under limited PRAG conditions.

Beneficiary geographic scope:Geographic eligibility covers EU Member States and eligible IPA countries as defined under Article 11 of Regulation (EU) No 2021/1529. The contract will be performed in Albania, and the contracting authority is the Government of Albania (CFCU - General Directorate for Financing and Contracting of EU, World Bank and Other Donor Funds).

Target sector:Energy sector in the context of EU pre-accession assistance. Cross-cutting themes include public administration reform, procurement & contract management, monitoring and evaluation, capacity development, and communications/visibility for EU-funded programmes.

Mentioned countries:Albania. Eligibility also refers to EU Member States and IPA-eligible countries as per IPA III regulation; contract performance is exclusively in Albania.

Project stage and expected maturity:Implementation and operational support: the tender targets programme implementation stages including preparation of project documentation, procurement and contract management, monitoring and evaluation. Expected maturity: development to implementation and operational support (demonstration/implementation stage).

Funding type and nature of support:Funding type: procurement (service contract) financed from IPA III (grant funds administered under IPA). Nature of support to beneficiaries: non-monetary services delivered through a contracted service provider. The contract is fee-based; beneficiaries do not receive direct cash grants under this contract but receive advisory, capacity-building and operational support services.

Submission method and application type:Submission method: Non-electronic (paper) requests to participate must be submitted in English in a sealed envelope to the contracting authority address in Tirana (CFCU) or hand-delivered and acknowledged. The procurement documents explain whether eSubmission would be used for the later tender stage (provisional invitation to tender date is 28 January 2027). The request to participate form (Annex b3) and declaration on honour are mandatory. The opportunity is a restricted tender (open call to eligible applicants to request participation followed by shortlisting).

Deadlines and milestones:TED publication date 25/09/2026. Deadline for receipt of requests to participate: 30/10/2026 14:00 Tirana time. Provisional invitation to tender: 28/01/2027. Provisional contract commencement: 13/09/2027. Period of implementation: 36 months.

Selection criteria summary:Candidates will be evaluated against exclusion and selection criteria. Short-list will include between 4 and 8 candidates meeting selection criteria. Main selection criteria include financial capacity, professional capacity and technical capacity as detailed below.

Additional comparative selection criteria (if >8 candidates):If more than 8 eligible candidates meet the selection criteria, candidates will be ranked using: highest number of relevant contracts meeting technical capacity criterion; then highest cumulated value of those completed services.

Award criteria:Best price-quality ratio. Award weighting and detailed sub-criteria are specified in the procurement documents; the procurement metadata indicates quality 80% and price 20% as the subordinate awarding criterion weighting, but candidates must consult the tender dossier for full break-down and scoring rules.

How to submit (address and format):Requests to participate must be submitted in English in a sealed envelope either by post/courier (postmark or deposit slip serves as proof) or hand-delivered (signed and dated receipt) to: Veronika Korkaj, General Director CFCU, General Directorate for Financing and Contracting of EU, World Bank and Other Donor Funds (CFCU), Ministry of Finance, Third floor (CFCU’s protocol office), Bulevardi Deshmoret e Kombit, No. 3, 1001 Tirana, Albania. The envelope must be clearly marked Not to be opened before the opening session and include the contract title and publication reference.

Procedure type:restricted. Two-stage procurement: 1) Request to participate and short-listing; 2) Invitation to tender and award. Between 4 and 8 candidates will be shortlisted to submit full tenders. Provisional invitation to tender is scheduled for 28 January 2027; shortlisted candidates will be invited to submit full technical and price proposals following the tender dossier instructions. Evaluation uses selection criteria at stage 1 and award criteria at stage 2.

Application stages:Two main stages: 1) Request to participate (selection and short-listing), 2) Tender submission by shortlisted candidates and final evaluation/award. Some administrative sub-steps (clarifications, possible re-examination ranking if >8 candidates) apply during stage 1.

Success rates:The formal short-list will include between 4 and 8 candidates. Success probability depends on the number of eligible applicants: if exactly 4 candidates meet criteria and are shortlisted, invitation is guaranteed; if many apply meeting criteria, short-listing will be competitive and ranking applied. No public historic success rate is provided in the documents.

Co-funding requirement:No co-funding by the candidate is required as part of participation. The contract is fee-based and financed under IPA III. Candidates must, however, demonstrate financial capacity and may need to mobilise resources and cover upfront costs internally until contract payments are received according to contract terms.

Templates and application form structure:The request to participate is structured in the Annex b3 form available with the procurement documents and includes sections: 1) Identity of candidate, 2) Contact person, 3) Economic and financial capacity (financial tables for last closed accounts), 4) Personnel statistics, 5) Areas of specialisation (tick-box table), 6) Experience (reference projects, max 15 references), 7) Declarations (signed declaration and separate Declaration on Honour A14a) and 8) Statement of intent. Capacity-providing entities must provide separate commitment documents. The Additional Information about the Contract Notice (A5f) and Annex b3 must be strictly followed.

Procurement documents published:Invitation to submit a request to participate (a5f_add__V1.pdf) and request to participate form (b3_req_part_form_en_V1.docx). Clarification requests must be made through the F&T Portal Questions & Answers tab at the latest 21 days before the submission deadline; clarifications will be published at the latest 8 days before the deadline. For administrative convenience, send clarifications also by e-mail to tender_CFCU@financa.gov.al. Candidates must monitor the F&T Portal for updates.

Candidates must avoid conflicts of interest:key or non-key experts involved in project preparation may not be proposed by tenderers. Entities on EU restrictive measures lists at the time of award cannot be awarded the contract. All declarations must be signed and, if required, original signed documents must be provided upon request. Financial figures must be expressed in EUR using InforEuro rates if originally in another currency. Where capacity of third parties is relied upon, supporting commitments must be provided and those entities must satisfy nationality/eligibility rules.

Contact and access to documents:Full procurement documents (a5f and b3 forms) and Q&A are available on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal tender page. The contracting authority contact for submissions and certain clarifications is tender_CFCU@financa.gov.al. See the tender details page for document downloads and official links Tender details.

Recommended preparation steps:review Annex a5f and Annex b3 carefully; collect certified financial statements for last 3 closed accounts demonstrating required turnover; prepare personnel statistics and CVs of experts (for later tender stage); assemble documentary evidence for at least two relevant reference contracts >= €1,000,000 each; obtain signed declarations and capacity commitments from any partner or capacity-providing entity; ensure all documents are in English and properly signed; submit the sealed request to participate to the specified address before the deadline.