Municipal authority launches tender for building energy performance contract
A multi-building energy performance contract aims to cut emissions and boost renewable use while tying design, works and maintenance into one deal.
A multi-building energy performance contract aims to cut emissions and boost renewable use while tying design, works and maintenance into one deal.
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Marseillan is turning to an energy performance contract to upgrade climate engineering systems across seven key buildings. The deal links design, works, operation and maintenance to clear energy and emissions outcomes, aiming to cut consumption and greenhouse gas emissions while increasing the use of renewable energy. It sits within a fast‑developing wave of performance‑based contracts that local authorities and other public bodies are using to decarbonise their estates.
Published on 4th May 2026, the municipality has launched a consultation for an Energy Performance Contract for Buildings. The contract covers design, execution, operation and maintenance services in climate engineering, with a focus on energy management and efficiency across seven priority buildings.
By drawing design, construction works and long-term operation into a single agreement, Marseillan is asking the future contractor to take responsibility for how the buildings perform in real use, not only for delivering isolated projects. Climate engineering installations are at the heart of the brief, and performance is framed around energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and the share of renewable energy used.
Concentrating on a defined group of buildings rather than the entire municipal estate can help a buyer track performance more closely and demonstrate results. A similar focus appears in Commune de Rueil-Malmaison, which in December 2025 published an Energy Performance Contract to improve the efficiency of seven specified buildings. Both procurements use the building portfolio as the basic unit for performance, rather than single systems or stand‑alone works contracts.
Marseillan’s notice puts reductions in energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions at the centre of the contract, alongside a clear aim to enhance the use of renewable energy. That combination of efficiency and low‑carbon generation now runs through many public‑sector tenders.
In March 2026, Mairie de Saint-Avertin launched an Energy Performance Contract for Saint-Avertin covering 23 sites. That contract also targets significant reductions in energy consumption and carbon footprint, using a mix of energy performance measures and a stronger role for renewable energy.
Housing providers are adopting similar models. In February 2026, SA HLM IRP issued an Energy Performance Contract for Facilities covering 24 sites and 2,485 housing units. The aim there is to manage energy supply and improve efficiency while reducing consumption and implementing renewable energy solutions.
The education sector is also turning to performance-based energy deals. In February 2026, REGION CENTRE VAL DE LOIRE published an Energy Performance Services for Schools notice, seeking design, construction, operation and maintenance services to improve energy efficiency in high schools, including by optimising heating systems and rolling out renewable energy solutions.
Healthcare, with its intensive energy use, features prominently too. In February 2026, Centre Hospitalier Alpes Léman launched an Energy Performance Contract for Hospital to renovate and modernise heating and cooling facilities at the Sallanches Hospital Center, with the goal of creating an energy hub that integrates renewable energy sources and improves efficiency.
Some buyers are going further by pairing efficiency work with on-site generation and storage. In March 2026, CA PAYS DE MONTBELIARD AGGLOMERATION issued a Photovoltaic Plants and Storage Systems contract to design, implement, operate and maintain photovoltaic plants on roofs and parking canopies, alongside electric and hydrogen storage systems to optimise renewable energy use for self‑consumption.
The structure of Marseillan’s procurement mirrors a broader move towards “global” performance contracts that bundle design, construction, operation and maintenance under a single framework with energy outcomes attached.
In April 2026, Commune de Gruissan published a Global Performance Contract for Buildings covering design, construction and operation‑maintenance of buildings with specific energy performance objectives. The contract from Université de Lorraine, published in February 2026, takes a similar whole‑life view: its Energy Performance Contract for HVAC covers design-build, operation and maintenance of HVAC systems across sites in Moselle and northern Meurthe-et-Moselle.
Municipal building portfolios are being treated in the same way. In April 2026, the municipality of Obernai launched an Energy Improvement Contract for Municipal Buildings to enhance the energy performance of its buildings through renovation, maintenance and operational services while ensuring compliance and safety.
Some contracts go further, spelling out how performance will be incentivised and measured. In March 2026, Ville de Chassieu advertised an Energy Supply and Maintenance Services contract that combines energy supply with operation and maintenance of heating, sanitary hot water, air conditioning and air treatment installations, and introduces performance‑based incentives for energy savings. In December 2025, Ville de Sotteville-lès-Rouen issued an HVAC Operations and Maintenance Contract focused on reducing energy consumption in heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems while ensuring service quality and user comfort, underpinned by defined performance measurement arrangements.
Beyond individual buildings, performance contracts are being applied to heat networks and energy centres. In January 2026, Saint-Etienne Métropole went to market with a Heating Network Operation Contract for the Unieux network, framed as a global performance public contract that covers operation, energy efficiency, renovation of production equipment and management of energy supplies. In March 2026, Cdc du Périgord Ribéracois published a Biomass Heating Plant Project that spans design, construction, operation and maintenance of a biomass heating plant and its associated heating network in Ribe.
Waste-to-energy infrastructure is being treated in the same way. In April 2026, Syndicat Intercommunal Valoseine issued a Global Performance Contract for Energy Center covering the design, implementation and operation of the AZALYS energy recovery centre in Carrières-sous-Poissy, including waste processing, heat provision and management of by‑products.
Local authorities are also applying performance contracting to public lighting and smaller municipal assets. Ville de Puiseaux’s Energy Management and Lighting Services contract from January 2026 bundles energy management, operation‑maintenance and the (re)construction of public lighting installations and associated equipment. In January 2026, Commune de Noisy-le-Grand advertised an Energy Management and Renovation contract that extends the model to public lighting, sports facilities, traffic light signalling and festive illuminations.
For Marseillan, the success of the new energy performance contract will depend on how the municipality defines its baseline energy use, the scale of the reductions it expects across the seven buildings, and how it specifies the contribution from renewable energy. The detail of measurement and verification arrangements will be central to turning broad ambitions on consumption and emissions into enforceable performance commitments.
Across the wider market, the clustering of notices in late 2025 and early 2026 suggests continued demand for integrated energy performance deals that link capital works with long‑term operation. Suppliers able to combine climate engineering expertise, energy management and performance monitoring are likely to find a growing pipeline of opportunities, from municipal building portfolios to schools, hospitals, housing estates and local energy networks.
The Marseillan contract will be one to follow as an example of how smaller authorities structure whole‑life energy deals for a defined set of buildings, and how far they use them to accelerate decarbonisation of their estates.
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