Four bids for the estimated US$150M Ostour dam in Iran are being evaluated and a contract award is imminent.
The four consortia bidding to build the 165MW scheme, on Sefid Rud river near Miyaneh, are: the UK’s Knight Piesold, Norway’s Kvaener Hydro and GE Canada plus local firms; Zurich-based ABB, Italy'’s Torno and the local General Mecanic; and electrowatt Engineering Services of Switzerland with local firms Farab and Tablieh. The fourth consortium is headed by China’s Dongfang Electric Corp.
The tender documents required bidders to provide their own finance and specified that 30% of construction work should be undertaken by Iranian companies.
As well as producing electricity, the Ostour dam will allow the irrigation of 200,000 ha and control flooding.
The Ostour scheme was tendered early this year, and at the same time bids were invited for construction of the 100MW Mollasadra dam, on the river Tang-e Boragh, and for construction of a 64km water tunnel near Kerman. Financial bids for the Mollasadra scheme were due to be opened in August while the deadline for the tunnel has been postponed until the end of October.
