The cost is important, the technical compliance is mandatory, but the good positioning of the procurement process within the company’s strategic planning is the key to success in managing the supply chain of products, services and works. An energy giant (Nuclearelectrica), a leading provider of services (CEMS EPC SA) and a senior official of the National Agency for Public Procurement (ANAP) have stimulated the debates during the first edition of the Energy Breakfast Club meetings this year, held on Wednesday January 25th at Cesianu Racoviţă Palace in Bucharest..

The dialogue was opened by Dominic Dumitru, General Manager of the Ex-ante Directorate for Control (ANAP), who presented the principles guiding the new primary and secondary legislation, after the transposition of the European directives, as well as the most significant changes impacting the contracting authorities.

Updates on the regulations regarding the sectorial procurement

“The bigger the efforts in the planning and preparation phase of the strategy for implementation of a project, the easier and smoother is the whole process of implementation” – summed up Dominic Dumitru the new philosophy upon which the regulations in the field were modified. In line with this philosophy, two new framework documents were introduced: the annual procurement strategy and the contracting strategy. “The annual procurement strategy represents the document drafted by the contracting authority which includes all the public procurement processes (procedures), planned to be launched by a contracting authority during a financial year”, said Dumitru. On the other hand, the contracting strategy is a document for the planning/preparation phase of a procurement process or a procedure for granting, and includes explanatory information about the chosen granting procedure, the type of agreement proposed and how to implement it, the payment mechanisms under the agreement, the allocation of risks within it etc. This document will be loaded into SEAP along with the granting documentation and becomes an evaluation benchmark for ANAP..

“As you know, there is also this novelty of allowing the contracting authorities to make direct payments to their subcontractors, under certain conditions”, recalled the ANAP representative.

Corina Truică: “We listen carefully!”

Corina Truică, Chief Operating Officer at CEMS EPC SA, began her presentation with a profession of faith on how the company positions itself in relation with its beneficiaries: “We listen carefully, because it is extremely important for us to understand what a beneficiary really wants”.

Petrotel LUKOIL is one of the main partners of CEMS EPS SA, and the collaboration works very well “because they have rigorous and very clear procurement procedures “, said Corina Truică. The Petrotel LUKOIL priorities in the assessment of services are, in this order: the safety of people and of the environment, reliability, energy efficiency, advanced technologies, economic competitiveness. “For our part, we appreciate the clarity in formulating the requests, as well as the special appetite for new technologies and progress”, said Corina Truică.

This is one of the most important elements, given that the industry is at the beginning of a new era in which IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) announces a wide revolution in shaping the broad production and maintenance processes. “The service providers have a key role in ensuring the transition, primarily through testing innovative solutions and assisting the interested companies to assess their opportunities and to manage the risks”, said Corina Truică. In this context, the classic criteria for selection (price, certifications, previous experience) are supplemented with new criteria, such as the process management model, the compatibility of the IT systems, the correlation with the philosophy of development and the technological level of the supplier.

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The framework for procurement must be adapted to the nuclear sector characteristics

In his turn, Mihai Darie, financial director of Nuclearelectrica, presented the key elements of the procurement activity, from the perspective of a nuclear operator that provides about 20% of the national consumption, by operating Units 1 and 2 of Cernavoda NPP. “The procurement activity should contribute decisively in achieving the 3E’s principles: efficiency, economy, effectiveness”, said Mihai Darie, before refering to the specific of the energy producers in the nuclear sector.

“The pillar on which we rely the entire activity is nuclear safety”, explained Mihai Darie. “Nuclear safety culture requires proactive measures and continuous benchmarking. That is why, our activity is based on lessons learned by other nuclear operators worldwide, the sharing of experience in operation and incorporating changes implemented in the industry.” In addition, but also related to nuclear safety two more specifics occur: the specific requirements requested through the tender documentation and a very low tolerance for delays in the procurement process, especially in the case of the procurement that aims the nuclear systems of the plant.

Regarding the impact of the new legislation on public procurement for Nuclearelectrica, Mihai Darie mentioned adapting the internal working rules and procedures, as well as identifying the areas where adjustments to streamline the functional limits of the proceedings are required. One of the main challenges in the supply activity is generic: risk identification and risk management (elimination or abatement). Still another regards the specifics of the nuclear industry: ensuring the full compliance (with legal provisons and all regulations) and the simultaneous management of specific legal procurement provisions with those derived from the nuclear sector. From this perspective, an aid would come from increasing the number of operators capable of providing the necessary inputs for the plant. “We would welcome any specific development of the procurement framework adapted for the nuclear sector, for a better reply to the characteristics of the sector”, concluded Mihai Darie..

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Over 60 representatives from ACUE (Federaţia Patronală a Asociaţiilor Companiilor de Utilităţi din Energie), Adrem Engineering, Alan Dick Romania, ANAP (Agenția Națională pentru Achiziții Publice), Ansaldo Nucleare, BCR, BCR Pensii, Biris Goran Sparl, Brenntag, Bursa Română de Mărfuri, Camera de Comert Britanică, CEMS Tehnologii, CNR-CME, CONPET, EFdeN (Solar Decathlon Europe), Electrica Furnizare, Electrica S.A., Emerson , ENGIE, Exe Green Holding, Greenpeace, Hunt Oil Company, Jereh, Klarwin Energy Technology, Mazars, Nomade Communication, Nuclearelectrica, ORACLE, PeliFilip, Petrom, Petrotel LUKOIL, Phoenix Contact SRL, Ringhel, Risk Over, Roland Berger, Romgaz, KMG International, RPIA (Romanian Photovoltaic Industry Association), S&T, Schneider Electric, Servelect, SIS Societatea de Inginerie Sisteme, Telekom, The Watcher, TIAB, Toyota, Travis, Veolia, WTS Energy, ZTE attended the presentations and participated in discussions.

The event was organized by energynomics.ro and supported by our partners CEMS EPC SA and Petrotel LUKOIL.

Participation

This year, energynomics.ro aims to organize at least 10 Energy Breakfast Club meetings. The schedule and the proposed themes for 2017 are available in the Energy Breakfast Club dedicated page.