How TenderGrid finds and sorts energy tenders
Where TenderGrid's tenders come from, how the energy score separates grid and power work from everything else, and what to keep in mind when you use the data.
TenderGrid is a free tool for companies that bid for energy work: grid operators' suppliers, substation and line contractors, cable and transformer makers, renewable energy developers and engineering consultancies. This page explains, as plainly as we can, where the data comes from and what we do with it, so you know how far to rely on it.
Where the tenders come from
We collect public procurement notices from official sources: international and national procurement portals and open-data feeds, for example the World Bank and SAM.gov in the United States. We only use notices that the buyers or the portals publish publicly.
We collect new notices regularly. Sources publish at different speeds, so a notice can reach TenderGrid a day or more after it first appeared on the official portal.
What we add to each notice
- An energy score. Every tender is scored from its CPV codes, its title, the start of its description and the buyer's name, using keywords in several languages: 2 for grid and power equipment work (substations, lines, cables, transformers, switchgear, meters, electricity distribution), 1 for other energy work (generation, renewables, storage, hydrogen, oil and gas, EV charging, district heating, energy efficiency, energy supply) or tenders from energy companies, and 0 for everything else. TenderGrid keeps the tenders that score 1 or 2.
- Duplicates hidden. The same tender is often published on several portals. Where the title, buyer, country and value range match and the deadlines don't differ, we keep the most complete version and hide the others.
- Checked links. Links to the official notice are tested when a notice is collected, and links found to be broken are left out.
- A place on the map. Usually the buyer's city, looked up with OpenStreetMap data; where no city is known, the country.
- A status. Tenders are marked active, closing soon, upcoming or expired from the dates in the notice, and statuses are updated every 2 days. Two months after the deadline (or after publication, when a notice has no deadline) a tender is removed.
What we don't change
We don't rewrite the substance of a notice: the title, buyer, scope, values and deadlines come from the source. We do not add estimated values where the buyer published none.
What to keep in mind
- Always read the official notice before you bid. Buyers change deadlines and add documents after publication, and those corrections may not reach TenderGrid. TenderGrid links to the official notice wherever the source provides a link.
- Automatic sorting is not perfect. Some relevant tenders score 0 because their title and codes give nothing away, so they are missed, and some irrelevant ones score 1 or 2. If you know of tenders we miss, tell us (see below), and keep watching the official portals of your key buyers.
- Values are estimates. Published values are the buyer's estimates, sometimes for a whole framework over several years, and not the final contract price.
- Coverage is broad but not complete. Many small contracts are published only on regional platforms or buyer portals we don't cover, and some are not published at all. Our guides on TED and development bank tenders explain where else to look.
Free, and how we pay for it
TenderGrid is free for everyone and paid for by advertising. To keep it free and fast on a small infrastructure, we cap a few heavy operations: a CSV export holds up to 1,000 tenders and the map shows up to 3,000 at a time. When demand is very high, we may pause new sign-ups for a while. You can read how we handle personal data in our privacy policy.
Questions and corrections
If you find a wrong deadline, a broken link or a tender in the wrong place, tell us through the Feedback page in the app or the contact page. Corrections from users are the fastest way we learn where the automatic sorting goes wrong.