The Turkish power ship company supplying the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) has bid to supply the additional 60 megawatts (MW) of electricity that the utility company now seeks as it prepares for increased demand during the CPL cricket and Christmas seasons.
Bids to supply GPL with 60 MW of net power generation baseload capacity for the Demerara-Berbice Interconnected System (DBIS) were yesterday opened at the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board, Georgetown, and among the five bidders was Karpowership Global DMCC in partnership with Urbacon Trading and Contracting Inc.
Other companies included power systems and heavy-duty machinery conglomerate, Machinery Corporation of Guyana Ltd (MACORP) which indicated that it could supply power at US$0.0645 per KWH.
Houston-headquartered natural gas company, Andalusian Energy LLC, which had submitted proposals to develop Guyana’s gas infrastructure was also among bidders yesterday.
Florida-based JP Energy solutions which has on its website, a photo with one of its executives posing with Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, also submitted a bid.
VAS Energy which says that it has been an energy broker since 2007 and has offices in New York and here in Guyana also submitted a bid.
After signalling earlier this year that it would need additional power on standby while the power ship provides the DBIS with power, GPL placed a Request for Proposals (RFP) to supply 60 MW net power generation base load capacity to the DBIS through a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) and for it to be delivered 90 days after the contract was inked.
However, the power company shortened the delivery time so that it would be prepared for the increased demand during the cricket and Christmas seasons, Chief Executive Officer Kesh Nandlall had told Stabroek News.
“We want to be prepared for an increase in demand and to ensure we have sufficient availability and in the system, not only now but between now and the time the gas-to-energy project comes into effect,” he said.
“We are in preparation for the holidays and CPL and everything else that comes up… we prepare to have more reserves because it is always better to have more than less …,” he added.
In May of this year, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo announced that government was exploring another power purchase agreement similar to the current one it has with Turkish power ship company, Karpowership, but this time for some 30 MW more until the Gas-to-Energy project is completed. This was because government has forecast an increase in demand for next year.
“We are still looking for an additional 30 MW of power into the system, in a similar way to the arrangement we have with Karpowership, that is for two years, until the Gas-to-Energy [GTE project] comes on stream and is able to supply enough power to the country,” Jagdeo told a press conference he hosted at Freedom House, Robb Street.
Jagdeo said that as the power ship began distribution, “This 36 MW would allow for maintenance of the other units” of the utility company that had been deferred.
And while the GPL RFP had specified 90 days as the delivery time, it made public an addendum, informing that the 90-day period had been reduced to 30 days.
Nandlall explained that the reduction was to expedite the process and ensure that systems were in place long before the anticipated increase in demand, as GPL “always want to be prepared for any eventuality.”
Another addendum was made to state that where it had said lowest unit cost of generation over a three-year period, it was now a two-year period instead, and the terms ‘incoterms 2010’ was changed to ‘incoterms 2020’.
And where the original notice had said that gross generator unit capacity be between 5-18MW, that clause was removed.
GPL has been criticised for poor planning of its short- to medium-term needs.
In the call for RFPs, GPL had outlined that bidding will be conducted through the National Competitive Bidding (NCB) procedures, specified in the Procurement Act and that interested eligible bidders may inspect the bidding documents and obtain further information from its procurement office on Main Street during normal working hours.
“Bid documents will be available from August 23, 2024 and can be uplifted from the Procurement Office, Guyana Power and Light Inc. 40 Main Street Georgetown upon payment of a nonrefundable fee of Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000),” the advertisement stated.
“Bids shall be submitted in a plain sealed envelope bearing no identification of the Bidder and marked on the top left hand corner “Supply of 60 MW Net Power Generation Base load Capacity to DBIS Through Power Purchase Agreement (PPA)”, it added, noting that it must be addressed to the Chairman of the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board, Ministry of Finance, Main and Urquhart streets Georgetown, and deposited in the tender box no later than 09.00 hours on the 17th.
Bidders must submit one original (on paper) and two electronic copies (flash drive only) with an exact PDF version of the paper tender and ensure the envelopes of the original (in paper) and the two electronic copies are identically labelled. The two electronic copies should be placed in a smaller envelope and properly affixed to the original paper submission.
All proposals from local companies had to also be accompanied by valid certificates of compliance from the Manager of the National Insurance Scheme, and the Commissioner of the Guyana Revenue Authority.
The table below shows the respective companies, their bids and documents submitted.
Tableset 5
