A municipality, subsidised school board or other public body buys battery storage through public procurement. Below 30,000 euro excluding VAT, consulting a few suppliers is enough. Above that, it writes specifications and runs a procedure, or buys through a purchasing body. It buys the same business battery that companies use, sized on real consumption.
The council approved the budget: a battery behind the sports hall's solar panels, or power for a remote bridge or pumping station. Then procurement asks for specifications that nobody in the house has ever written for a battery.
Without any grid, an off-grid system is the route. The bicycle bridge between Waregem and Wielsbeke runs its ship and street lighting on one, with extra solar panels.
Must a municipality or school board follow public procurement rules to buy a battery?
Yes, if it is a contracting authority. The law of 17 June 2016 on public procurement covers the State, regions, communities, local authorities and bodies mainly funded or controlled by government.
That includes municipalities, OCMW/CPAS, provinces, intercommunales, police and fire zones and many subsidised school boards. The law looks at funding and governance, not legal form, as the FAQ of the Flemish Energy Company (VEB) confirms.
A private school without subsidies chooses its installer freely. The one in Incourt runs fully off-grid on new solar panels, a battery and a generator.
A delivered and installed battery is usually a supply contract. If building work dominates, such as a technical room and long trenches, it can become a works contract, with other thresholds.
Watch out
This is not legal advice. Your procurement officer or legal adviser decides on the procedure.
Which public procurement procedure fits battery storage or an off-grid project?
The estimated value, excluding VAT, decides the procedure. The 2026-2027 thresholds, as published by the Flemish government and legal specialists:
| Estimated value (excl. VAT) | Usual procedure | What it means for a battery project |
|---|---|---|
| Below 30,000 euro | Contract of limited value | Consult a few suppliers; an accepted invoice can be enough. A federal draft law approved on 30 April 2026 raises this to 75,000 euro; not in force yet, publication expected in autumn 2026 |
| Below 140,000 euro | Negotiated procedure without prior publication | Invite and compare several suppliers, with simple specifications |
| Supplies below 216,000 euro (local authorities), works below 750,000 euro | Simplified negotiated procedure with prior publication | Published tender; at least 22 days for offers |
| Above those amounts | Open or restricted procedure, European publication above the EU thresholds | Full specifications; an open procedure gives at least 35 days for offers |
The European works threshold of 5,404,000 euro is far above most battery projects. So the real choice is usually between the negotiated procedures and a purchasing body. Tenders appear on publicprocurement.be, the federal eProcurement platform.
Can you buy a battery through the Flemish Energy Company (VEB) or another purchasing body?
Yes. Buying through a purchasing body means no procurement procedure of your own. Article 47 of the law allows it, if the purchasing body is itself a contracting authority.
| Purchasing body | For whom | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Flemish Energy Company (VEB), Flanders | Flemish and federal public institutions and local authorities | You write no specifications and run no procedure; cost-covering fee: a fixed amount per connection plus a fixed amount per MWh |
| VEB framework agreements for solar panels and batteries, renewed in June 2026 (VVSG, the association of Flemish municipalities) | Batteries with or without solar panels | Battery size limits dropped; a battery alone or added to an existing installation; from study and design to installation and optional maintenance; starts with a non-binding feasibility study |
| Purchasing body of the Walloon Region (SPW) | Most Walloon cities, municipalities and CPAS | Check its framework agreements for energy storage before your own tender |
| Provinces such as Liège | Their local partners | Act as a purchasing body too |
| Any purchasing body | Every public buyer | The UVCW warns it must really be a contracting authority: check before joining, especially a new one set up as a non-profit association |
A framework agreement lasts at most four years, with fixed conditions. An unusual site is often better served by its own specifications: an off-grid bridge, a remote pumping station or a school that wants full back-up.
What goes into the battery specifications for a public tender?
Good specifications say what the system must do, how it is measured and who looks after it for ten years. Write them as performance or functional requirements, as the law allows.
Copying a supplier's datasheet is exactly what the law forbids. Never name a brand or type without the words "or equivalent". Refer to standards, and ask every bidder for usable kWh, kVA, warranty and service terms in one format.
| Topic | What to write | Why |
|---|---|---|
| The need | Peak shaving, solar self-consumption, back-up, or off-grid supply; with your consumption data | The use decides the size and the control |
| Usable energy | Usable kWh at the end of the warranty, not only the nominal capacity | A battery loses capacity over the years |
| Power | Continuous and peak power in kVA, single or three phase | Motors, pumps and chargers need power, not only energy |
| Back-up | Which circuits keep running, for how long, and how fast the switchover must be | Back-up must be designed in, it is not automatic |
| Safety and standards | IEC 62619 for industrial lithium batteries "or equivalent"; the fire-safety and permit rules of your site | A standard is neutral; a brand is not |
| Monitoring and data | Remote monitoring, alarms, and access to the data for the contracting authority | You need the data to follow savings and to claim warranty |
| Warranty and service | Capacity warranty in % and years or cycles; response times; maintenance; end of life | The ten years after installation cost more attention than the purchase |
| Expandability | Room to add battery modules or solar panels later | Needs grow; oversizing on day one costs money |
| Environmental impact | The environmental impact of the battery over its whole life cycle | The European Battery Regulation obliges contracting authorities to weigh it since 18 February 2024 |
| Battery passport | A digital battery passport | Required for industrial batteries above 2 kWh from 18 February 2027 (European Battery Regulation) |
Our article on warranty, service and maintenance of a business battery lists what a service agreement must contain. Fire safety, permits and the battery room are in our guide on whether a business battery is safe.
Which award criteria work for a battery tender: price, life-cycle cost or quality?
The law allows award on price, on cost including life-cycle costs, or on the best price-quality ratio. The cheapest battery on paper can be the dearest over ten years: less usable capacity, a short warranty, no monitoring, nobody to call.
Life-cycle cost
Purchase, energy use, maintenance and end of life (collection, recycling). The tender documents state the data bidders give and your method.
Technical quality
Technical merit and functional characteristics: usable capacity at the end of the warranty, efficiency, control and expandability.
Service and technical assistance
Customer service, technical assistance and delivery time: over ten years, this is where bidders really differ.
Staff experience
You may weigh the team's organisation, qualifications and experience when it strongly affects the result. Design and commissioning decide how well a battery works.
Our verdict
Give quality and service real weight next to price. A battery nobody monitors, or a warranty nobody can enforce, costs a public body more than a slightly higher offer.
Preparing specifications or a market consultation for a battery? Call us or send a message.
How does a public battery or off-grid project run, step by step?
Six steps take a public battery project from measurement to a monitored system, and the first two come before any tender. People who build large systems agree: audit and design first, then procurement.
From need to a working battery on a public site
Measure a year of consumption and peaks via your grid operator; without data, we can monitor for a short period first. Keep the commissioning report and serial numbers, because a warranty claim needs them. In operation, follow the monitoring, react to alarms and plan the periodic electrical inspection.
In Beernem, a research and education site, the preliminary study sized the battery without oversizing and left room to expand. Going off-grid avoided a grid study, a disconnection panel and possibly a medium voltage cabin: up to 30,000 euro.
When is a battery or off-grid system the wrong purchase for a public body?
With a good grid connection, no peak problem and no need for back-up, a battery often does not pay yet. Solar panels alone, or a better energy contract, do more for less.
VEB itself writes that batteries pay off in only a limited number of cases, though VVSG reports sharply lower battery prices. Your peaks, your solar surplus and the cost of your connection decide.
Off-grid fits when a connection is far away or very expensive, as at the Waregem bridge. Otherwise a grid-connected battery is usually the better buy.
Small public loads: see our guide on lighting, signage and cameras without a grid connection. For schools, read whether a school can run on its own electricity. To compare bids, use our 12 questions to compare business battery quotes.
Frequently asked questions
Can a supplier help us write the specifications?
Yes, if competition is not distorted: the law allows advice from experts and market players before the procedure. That supplier may still bid, if every bidder gets the same information and enough time.
Can solar panels and a battery be bought in one tender?
Yes, in one contract or in lots: solar panels, battery and inverters, maintenance. Above 140,000 euro you must consider lots and explain why you skip them. Keep the battery and its control in one lot, or nobody is responsible when they clash.
Are there subsidies for batteries in public buildings or schools?
In Wallonia, UREBA supports energy works for schools, but batteries are not on its published list. In Flanders, school buildings above 250 MWh a year must install solar panels from 2026, and AGION offers an interest-free energy loan.
Does a battery on a public site need a permit or inspection?
The electrical installation needs an inspection, and larger batteries can fall under environmental and fire-safety rules. Our battery safety guide explains them per region.
Preparing a battery or off-grid project for a public site?
Tell us about the site, loads, budget and procedure. We start from your data: analysis and sizing, a design matched to your plans, installation, commissioning, monitoring and support.
Our battery systems for businesses and public sites cover peak shaving, solar self-consumption, back-up and fast-charging support. They are modular up to 1 MW, with monitoring, control and optimisation. The technical background is in our guide on battery storage for businesses.
Sources
- Law of 17 June 2016 on public procurement (Justel)
- Flemish government: procurement procedures and thresholds
- Tender Law: new thresholds for public procurement 2026-2027
- Geerts De Nayer: relaxations of the procurement law 2026
- VEB: frequently asked questions
- VVSG: VEB framework agreements for solar panels and batteries (18 June 2026)
- UVCW: purchasing bodies must be contracting authorities (July 2025)
- UVCW: the SPW purchasing body (October 2022)
- PIANOo: the Battery Regulation in public procurement