POSIDON PCP project gathers 5 European procurers, two front-runners: Port Network Authority of the Eastern Adriatic Sea Port Of Trieste (IT) and Bilbao City Council (ES) and three observers: Spaque (BE), CEA - Vitoria Gasteiz City Council (ES), Baja do Tejo (PT), all facing a common soil decontamination challenge in their managing sites and all leveraging public demand to identify fit for-purpose and cost - effective innovative and sustainable soil decontamination solutions.
The common need identified by the buyers’ group concerns a soil (and eventually groundwater) remediation new, life-cycle, cost-effective technology, preferred as in-situ (and eventually on-site), capable of decontaminating the heterogeneous anthropic soil in soil/groundwaters, composed of a mixture of various industrial wastes (like filling soils highly polluted by petroleum hydrocarbons and heavy metals) and soils consisting of clay and sand highly polluted by petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs), PAHs and heavy metals.
PCP - pre commercial public procurement is a competitive multiple-sourcing procedure for procuring applied research and technological development services. It involves different suppliers competing in parallel through different phases of development.
Evaluation following each phase progressively identifies solutions offering the best value for money.
POSIDON PCP
POSIDON PCP is structured in three phases:
- Phase 1 - Original solution exploration and design, based on a feasibility study;
- Phase 2 - Prototyping;
- Phase 3 - Original development of test series and field testing in 2 sites.
POSIDON PCP expects to have 6 suppliers in Phase 1, 4 suppliers in Phase 2 and 2 suppliers in Phase 3.
The descriptions of the phases are as follows:
Phase 1 - Original solution exploration and design, based on a feasibility study is intended to demonstrate the feasibility of proposed concepts for new solutions. Phase 1 will have a total duration of 5 months, out of which 3,5 months will be fully allocated to the work to be completed by the Phase 1 Contractors.
Phase 2- Prototyping is intended for the development and evaluation of prototypes from the more promising concepts in Phase 1. Participation in Phase 2 is dependent upon successful completion of Phase 1. More specifically, selected Contractors will each develop a prototype based on the results of their feasibility study. The aim is to verify to what extent the prototype’s main features meet the functional and performance requirements set in the POSIDON challenge description. Participating Contractors are expected to deliver a prototype specification during lab demonstration, as well as a plan for original development of a limited volume of first solutions and field-testing, and an updated cost/benefits evaluation including a preliminary business plan.
Phase 2 awarding period will last from 10th of February 2020 to 9th of March 2020; Phase 2 prototyping activities will last from 30th March 2020 to 15 of February 2021
Phase 3: Original development of a test series and field testing in 2 sites is intended for the original development of a limited volume of first products test series necessary to execute field testing activities in two countries.
More specifically, it aims to verify and compare the full feature set and performance of different solutions in real-life operational conditions (residential and industrial sites). The aim is to verify to what extent the prototype’s main features meet the functional and performance requirements set in the POSODON PCP challenge. The tests will be carried out in 2 out of 3 different in Bilbao (Spain), and/or in Trieste (Italy) and/or in Laminoir de la Rochette, located in the Municipality of Liège (Walloon region, Belgium), as it will be indicated by the Lead Procurer at the beginning of Phase 3, ensuring that a performance comparison can be made between the various environmental, legal and contamination conditions.
Participation in Phase 3 is dependent upon successful completion of Phase 2.
Phase 3 will have a total duration of 14 months, out of which 11,5 months will be fully allocated to the work to be completed by the Phase 3 Contractors.
Phase 3 awarding period will start the 24 th of May 2021, until 25th of June 2021; Phase 3 field testing activities will take place from 21st of July 2021 to 13th of September 2022.
Monitoring activities
During each phase, the awardees contract implementation will be monitored periodically and reviewed against the expected outcomes (milestones, deliverables and output or results) for the phase.
The intensity of monitoring and communication between the POSIDON Monitoring Board and the R&D services providers will increase from Phase 1 to Phase 3.
In Phase 1, contractors will be asked once to shortly report their status and the issues that they are facing in the development of their solution design (milestones, deliverables and output) on paper and in meetings conducted remotely/at the Lead Procurer premises.
At the beginning of Phase 2, each contractor will be assigned a main contact person (their supervisor) from the Monitoring Board appointed by the procurers.
In Phases 2 and 3, where solutions need to be developed, there will be regular monitoring meetings between the contractor and the Monitoring Board.
The meetings will take place physically when milestones are achieved or/and when necessary, after formal communication. The contractors could be asked to discuss the results achieved in the preceding period and present their updated work plan; the monitoring board or the appointed supervisor could visit the contractor’s premises to periodically monitor progress; the contractors could visit the procurer's premises when planned and specifically authorized (in particular at the start of a phase 1 to get to know better the operational environment that solutions need to be designed for and during phase 2).
The Monitoring Board will provide regular feedback to contractors after meetings or visits.
On the Completion Date of Phase I, the Tenderer shall submit to the Lead Procurer an “End of Phase Report” regarding such Phase together with the deliverables belonging to Phase I, which shall thereupon be reviewed and assessed by the Monitoring Board in order to determine whether the Contractor has complied with the Common Challenge and the Functional requirements.
The Monitoring Board shall issue its decision regarding the satisfactory or successful completion of every Phase, within 3 weeks after the Completion Date of the Phase. In case the volume of Contractors leads to a longer evaluation process the Tenderers will be informed.
POSIDON project is looking for independent experts in soil decontamination to be potentially appointed to assist POSIDON PCP in phases 1,2,3 with the technical evaluation and technical monitoring.
These include:
- supporting the technical awarding commission in the evaluation of R&D proposals
- supporting technical monitoring supervisor/monitoring team in phase 1, 2, 3 in the monitoring of interim milestone(s)/deliverable(s), as well as Phase 2 lab prototype demonstration and Phase 3 field testing activities.
As an expert you perform this work as an independent individual and do not represent a company or organization.
POSIDON recruits experts from a database, where you can register at any time during the project life (April 2019 – November 2022. Registration is open to experts of any nationality including those outside of the EU and Associated Countries.
To find out exactly what type of knowledge and skills we are looking for, see the table below (expertise field)
European H2020 rules for “Working as an expert” will be followed.
Working as an expert, you may like to look through in short:
- Place of work: All or part of the evaluation and monitoring may be carried out at your home or place of work (remote evaluation), or at POSIDON awardees laboratories or POSIDON field testing sites [Trieste (I), Bilbao (E), Liege (B)] , depending on the type of work to be done.
- Conflicts of interest: POSIDON PCP will not appoint you as an expert for technical support if you have a vested interest that could influence the way you examine and evaluate it. For more detail please see section ‘contracting & payment’ and the model contract for experts.
- Confidentiality: If you are going to be handling classified information, you will need security clearance before you can sign a contract.
- Remuneration (European H2020 rules for expert remuneration will be followed): as an expert, you will receive €450 for each full day worked. However for remote evaluation the POSIDON Consortium adopt the Commission’s new simplified methodology to calculate the working days, please see details in the contracting & payment Your travel and subsistence costs will be refunded.
In depth - working as an expert:
- How you can become an expert: start with POSIDON registering as an expert - REGISTRATION FORM
POSIDON has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N. 776838. The content of this website reflects only the authors' view and the Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME) is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.