PDB floats tender for 10 power plants

Power Cell shortlists 4 bidders for 450MW Bibiyana plant
The Power Development Board (PDB) on Sunday floated tender for 10 public sector power projects totalling 820 megawatt capacity, while the Power Cell pre-qualified four out of seven interested bidders for its tender for 450 MW Bibiyana power project.
The PDB power projects would mostly be installed with dual-fuel capacity; they would either operate on diesel or furnace oil. Only one of these 10 plants would be gas-fired.
The PDB will hold a pre-tender meeting with the interested bidders on October 6 and the tender will close on October 28, while bidders will submit their proposals by October 29.
The dual-fuel plants would be Gopalganj 100 MW, Hathazari 100 MW, Dohazari 100 MW, Bera (Pabna) 70 MW, Katakhali (Rajshahi) 50 MW, Shantahar 50 MW, Baghabari 50 MW, Faridpur 50 MW, and Daudkandi 50 MW. The lone gas-fired power plant will be set up in Ashuganj with 200 MW capacity.
The bidders will have to submit $1 million bid bond for the 200 MW power plant, $300,000 for 100 MW plant, $240,000 for a 70 MW plant and $150,000 for a 50 MW plant.
In the re-tendering process of the Bibiyana power project, the Power Cell upon taking nearly five months on Sunday prequalified Malaysian YTL Power, a consortium of local Summit Mercantile Corporation (lead bidder) and GE Energy of the USA, consortium Meiya Power of Hong Kong (lead bidder) and local Shasha Denims and consortium CMEC (lead bidder) and Shenzen Shenwan Power of China and Asian Entach and Otobi ltd of Bangladesh.
Interestingly, the Power Cell during the caretaker government rule had disqualified Summit in the first tender for Bibiyana power project on grounds that it did not have adequate funds required to qualify for this project — a deduction that Summit had repeatedly challenged and the Cell refused to accept. Summit was qualified for a 450 mw power project in Sirajganj under the four-party alliance government, but the contract was never awarded on political consideration.
The Power Cell disqualified three bidders — Ranhill Berhad of Malaysia, Independent Power of the UK and Globeleq, the UK.
These are well-known power companies, but sources say their documents had some shortcomings.
The Cell’s selection once again surprised many in the power industry as it had dropped a large company like Independent Power and a local major player Globeleq while selecting little-known bidders like Meiya-Shasha or Asian Entach-Otobi.
Again, the selection of CMEC-led consortium was based on CMEC’s ‘experience’ of a hydroelectric project that has not been completed and that is undergoing a drastic financial rearrangement.
The Cell sent its recommendation to the Power Division of the energy ministry, which will approve it so that the Cell can invite the four bidders to submit their technical and financial bids for this World Bank-financed project.

Courtesy of The Daily Star