Multi-lot framework for substation design, delivery and oversight shows how energy networks are reshaping procurement to support grid upgrades and stability.
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This new Technical Framework for Substation Projects from TenneT TSO GmbH sets up a five-lot structure for design, delivery and oversight of substation works, underlining how electricity networks are reorganising procurement to keep pace with the energy transition. Published on 23rd December 2025, the notice points to a sustained pipeline of specialised services around one of the grid’s most critical assets.
The contract notice is brief but clear in scope. TenneT TSO GmbH is seeking expertise for the realisation and execution of substation projects, with services divided into five special lots. Instead of buying construction alone, the buyer wants structured support across project design, delivery, oversight and information management.
The lots cover functions such as:
Taken together, the lots track the lifecycle of a substation project: from early engineering, through execution on site, to verification and the handover of a complete digital record. The emphasis on inspection and document management sits alongside the core engineering work, suggesting that quality assurance and traceability are as important to the buyer as physical delivery.
By separating these activities into distinct lots, the company can invite different mixes of providers. Some bidders may focus on design and planning, others on implementation and inspection, while document management opens space for firms with strengths in information systems and technical archiving. The structure also gives the buyer scope to standardise methods across many individual projects.
Substations are the nodes that step high-voltage power up and down, switch flows across lines and connect large customers and distribution networks. As more renewable generation connects and demand patterns change, these installations face new stresses: higher utilisation, more complex protection schemes and the need to integrate digital control.
Across Europe, other grid owners are putting similar frameworks in place. In July 2025, Swissgrid AG launched its Strategic Planning Security Framework to enhance the quality and efficiency of preliminary project planning for substations by working with specialised teams in designated regions. Like TenneT’s approach, it treats planning as a distinct discipline that benefits from long-term collaboration.
A few months later, in October 2025, Swissgrid AG – Engineering & Construction tendered for Leibstadt Substation Planning Services, seeking planning for replacement of primary and secondary technology and construction of a new substation building at the Leibstadt site. The scope runs from technology renewal to civil works, showing how substation modernisation often combines new digital systems with complete rebuilding of ageing infrastructure.
In August 2025, Energienetze Steiermark GmbH issued its Electrotechnical Substation Services framework, covering planning, construction and maintenance of substations and related technical services. Later that month, BEW Berliner Energie und Wärme GmbH sought suppliers for Planning and Delivery for Electrical Backbone systems at a new substation in Berlin, including control and protection devices and extensive testing to align new secondary technology with existing primary components.
By November 2025, 50Hertz Transmission GmbH was procuring an Emergency Power Systems Framework Agreement to design, supply, deliver and commission emergency power systems for substations, onshore and offshore. In December 2025, SachsenNetze HS.HD GmbH moved to secure a Supply of Distribution Transformers framework for its substations, while in August 2025 SBB CFF FFS Infra-Energie tendered a Framework Agreement for Transformers for railway substations, including eight 132/16kV, 21.8MVA overhead line transformers and two 132–66/11kV, 10MVA units, with options for additional equipment.
The TenneT framework also sits within a wider move towards long-term, multi-lot arrangements for grid works and related infrastructure. Rather than tendering each substation or network scheme in isolation, many buyers now use framework agreements to build stable supplier panels that can respond to a rolling programme of projects.
In July 2025, Stadtwerke Ratingen GmbH published a Civil Engineering Services Framework for trenching and pipeline works on gas, water, district heating and electricity supply networks, covering new construction, maintenance and on-call services. In December 2025, FairNetz GmbH followed with a Civil Engineering Framework Agreement built around five lots for maintenance and disruption elimination in gas, water, electricity, telecommunications and district heating networks. And in December 2025, Salzburg AG für Energie, Verkehr und Telekommunikation and Salzburg Netz GmbH jointly sought a Framework Agreement for Pipeline Planning across district heating, electricity and telecommunications, and water and gas, allowing bidders to take on individual or multiple lots.
Regional and departmental energy bodies are taking a similar path. In July 2025, the Syndicat d'énergie des Alpes de Haute Provence launched a Project Management for Electrical Distribution framework for partial project management on high- and low-voltage networks, public lighting and telecommunications across two geographical lots. That same month, TE47 opened a Project Management and Assistance Services framework to support local authorities with energy optimisation projects, combining project owner assistance and project management across different regions. In September 2025, the Syndicat Départemental d'Energie de l'Aube set up a broad Framework Agreement for Works covering public electricity distribution, telecommunications installations, lighting and traffic signals, maintenance of electrical installations and charging infrastructure for electric vehicles.
Elsewhere, grid and infrastructure owners are locking in specialist design and construction support. In September 2025, Elektroenergien Sistemen Operator EAD in Bulgaria tendered Geotechnical Investment Design Services as a framework for investment design and supervision of geotechnical activities on electric power transmission facilities and other constructions. In October 2025, Anexartitos Diacheiristis Metaforas Ilektrikis Energeias A.E. (ADMHE A.E.) in Greece sought a Civil Engineering Projects Framework Agreement for works at substations and high-voltage centres across several regions. That same month, DELGAZ GRID S.A. launched its Substation Components Procurement, covering low voltage distribution boards, concrete shell modules and power cabinets that must meet specified technical standards while allowing for equivalent alternatives.
Against that backdrop, the TenneT framework’s focus on design, planning, implementation, inspection and document management highlights the range of skills now expected around each substation scheme. Engineering design and site works sit alongside systematic testing and the production of a complete record of what has been built.
Several other recent tenders show how digital and advisory services are being woven into infrastructure programmes. The BEW Planning and Delivery for Electrical Backbone project at the Reuter substation places heavy weight on coordination between new secondary technology and existing primary components, plus extensive testing. In November 2025, Dataport AöR issued an Infrastructure Framework Agreement for building power supply systems, structural infrastructures, system cabinets and cabling to support technology rooms, split into lots for cabinet systems, data and network technology, and electrical engineering. Also in November 2025, the Spanish state-owned company Segipsa launched a Technical Assistance Services Framework spanning installations, structural engineering, façades, BIM modelling, digital visualisation, topography and landscaping.
Consultancy frameworks are also expanding. In October 2025, Bostads AB Mimer tendered a Technical Consultants for Energy framework for energy declarations, mapping and investigations. In September 2025, Lerums kommun sought a Technical Consulting Services Agreement for electrical and tele-technical installations and security systems, including cost estimates and project management across construction projects. And in August 2025, NAH.SH GmbH, acting for the Land Schleswig-Holstein, launched a Technical Consulting for Rail Infrastructure framework to answer technical questions, review planning results and provide ad hoc clarifications on rail schemes.
Together, these notices point to a market where infrastructure owners procure not only hardware and construction, but also analysis, digital models, documentation and ongoing advice. For substation projects in particular, that means more actors need to work in a coordinated way across the whole lifecycle.
For suppliers, the Technical Framework for Substation Projects offers a structured route into a programme of substation schemes, with room for both multidisciplinary engineering firms and niche specialists in inspection or document control. The five-lot model could encourage partnerships that combine design strength, delivery capability and robust information management.
From a system perspective, the important question will be how effectively frameworks like this are used to deliver timely, standardised substation upgrades while maintaining grid stability. As more buyers across Europe put in place long-running agreements for planning, construction, equipment and advisory services, observers will watch how these procurement tools translate into practical capacity to connect new generation and meet rising demand.
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