General principles
Article 3
Non-price criteria in auctions pursuant to Article 26(1) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1735 shall comply with the following general principles: (a) they shall be defined and evaluated in an objective, transparent and non-discriminatory manner, taking into account the policy objectives of the auction and the potential contribution of each technology to those objectives; (b) they shall reflect the market maturity of the technologies addressed and may be designed by involving relevant interested market participants, including developers, manufacturers, civil society and experts, in the different non-price criteria included in the auction; (c) they shall contribute to the rapid, efficient and sustainable deployment of renewable energy in a competitive manner, attract private investment and provide benefits such as investment certainty; (d) they shall ensure a competitive bidding process and avoid creating insurmountable and unjustified entry barriers and disproportionate costs, while dissuading companies without a firm intention of realising the project and meeting the project specifications from bidding; (e) they shall be applied in accordance with Union law and the commitments of the Union pursuant to international trade and investment agreements; (f) they shall use assessment methods provided for in Union legislation for that net-zero technology, where available; (g) where delegated acts under Article 4 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 set classes of performance in relation to net-zero technologies, the relevant criteria of the auction for the deployment of such net-zero technology shall be based on those classes of performance.