Project description
The technical and economic pre-feasibility study on the project prepared by Poyry Hydropower Engineering in cooperation with Gross Energy Group envisages construction of a cascade of a minimum two and maximum three hydro power plants, with a total installed capacity of 137-219MW and an annual average generation of 714-1205GWh. The preliminary costing of the project is estimated at US$410-604M.
Conditions of the EOI
Rights of implementation of the project
The winning participant will be awarded the exclusive right to implement the Project, which includes:
• To undertake a full technical and economic feasibility study of the Project, as well as an environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA).
• To determine the final design of the Upper Mtkvari Plants, subject to certain legislative and regulatory requirements and approval of government.
• To develop the project with build, own, operate (BOO) rights following the completion of the full technical and economic feasibility study and the ESIA
Mandatory supply
For the purposes of meeting the domestic power supply needs in Georgia, the winning participant will be obligated to sell electricity generated by the Upper Mtkvari Plants to any buyer(s) in Georgia during the winter period, from October through March of each year starting from the launch of operations of the Upper Mtkvari Plants., The amount of the electricity to be supplied within Georgia annually for meeting domestic power supply needs during the Winter Period of each year shall be no less than 100GWh. The exact volume of mandatory supply will be established in the bidding stage.
Other than the mandatory supply, the rest of the generated electricity can be sold freely by the winning participant, at its sole discretion, to any buyer(s), either within or outside Georgia.
Transmission
Most of the electricity may be exported to Turkey and transmitted through a new interconnection (400/500 kV) transmission line which is currently under construction.
Procedures
General information and documents
The Expression of Interest is announced by the ME Order issued in accordance with the authorities delegated to the ME by the government. The process will be conducted by the ME on behalf of the government. The decision on the selection of the winning participant and the final rating of the other participants will be made by the government.
Conditions and Procedures of the EOI has been approved by the ME Order and is available for all interested companies at the Ministry of Energy website http://www.minenergy.gov.ge and also at the special website created for the Project http://www.uppermtkvaricascade.com . The websites will be updated with news and relevant information about the Expression of Interest.
The following Project-related information is available on the project specific web-site www.uppermtkvaricascade.com
• ME Order and the Conditions and Procedures for Expression of Interest;
• Model Implementation Contract;
• Model Off-Take Agreement;
• Model Transmission System Utilization Agreement;
• Overview presentation of the Georgian Economy
• Overview report of Georgian Power Sector;
• Overview report of Regional Power Markets;
• Informational Memorandum for the Project
• Business case presentation for the Project
• Technical and Economic Prefeasibility Study of the Project with annexes; and
• Legal Note on Rules for Land Acquisition in Georgia
The Expression of Interest is a transparent and competitive process and consists of three stages – the prequalification stage, the bidding stage and the evaluation stage.
Prequalification Stage
The prequalification stage will last for a period not exceeding 120 days.
All companies interested in participating in the Expression of Interest (“Participants”) must meet the below provided prequalification criteria and submit confirmable and verifiable information and relevant documentation:
• Average annual turnover of a Participant for the period of the last five years whether as an individual legal entity or a group of legal entities, must exceed US$300M which is calculated as follows: Turnover = (X1+X2+X3+X4+X5) / 5 > US$300M; Where X1, X2, X3, X4 and X5 represents relevant annual Turnover of the Participant for the period 2005 to 2009.
• Paid in capital of the Participant, whether as an individual legal entity or a group of legal entities, must amount to no less than US$100M as of December 31, 2009;
The contents of the prequalification application, the method of submission and other requirements are detailed in the Conditions and Procedures for Expression of Interest.
Bidding Stage
The bidding stage will continue for a total of 70 days and only those Participants who were prequalified will be allowed to bid. The bidding stage may be extended in accordance with the rules established in the Conditions and Procedures approved by the Ministry of Energy.
The sole evaluation criterion for the Bidding Stage is the Mandatory Supply with higher score given to a company bidding the higher value of Mandatory Supply. Bids will be evaluated with maximum of 100 scoring system which will be given to the bidder which bids the highest value of mandatory supply.
The ME will review the bids and will prepare respective information for the submission to the GOG in order for the GOG to make decision regarding the winning Bidder and the final ranking of the other Bidders.
Together with the Bid all the Bidders are obliged to submit a US$5M bank guarantee. The Guarantees of the unsuccessful Bidders will be returned after identification of the winning Bidder.
The contents of the documents to be submitted at the biding stage, method of submission and other requirements is detailed in the Conditions and Procedures for Expression of Interest.
Evaluation Stage
At the evaluation stage the government will evaluate the Bids, identify the winning Bidder and make a decision regarding the final ranking of the other Bidders. The evaluation stage will last for a total of 20 days.
Execution of the implementation contract
The ME will issue written notice to the winning Bidder and invite for Implementation Contract negotiations and execution.
The model Project Contracts will be open for negotiations and respective modifications. In case of the Implementation Contract and the Off-Take Agreement such modification will be acceptable only to the extent that such modifications do not impact the basic conditions including financial and guarantee conditions. Any modification to the Implementation Contract will be subject to GOG approval.
Contact information
Interested companies may contact First Deputy Minister for Energy Mariam Valishvili or Econ Poyry Project Manager Bjorn Brandtzaeg at:
Mariam Valishvili
First Deputy Minister of Energy
Ministry of Energy of Georgia
Email: marika.valishvili@minenergy.gov.ge; or uppermtkvaricascade@minenergy.gov.ge
Mobile: + 99577960505
Bjorn Brandtzaeg
Project Manager
Econ Poyry
Email: uppermtkvaricascade@minenergy.gov.ge
Mobile: + 4798263966
All companies interested in participating in the Expression of Interest at the prequalification stage must submit their Prequalification Application to the ME (Tbilisi, Baratashvili Street No 2) before 17:00 Georgian time on 28 April 2010 in accordance with the Conditions and Procedures set by the ME Order No 5 dated 28 January, 2010.
Project website: http://www.uppermtkvaricascade.com
External weblinksMinistry of Energy Project website
