Bangla begins tender process for 450-MW Sirajganj project

Dhaka: The Power Division on Sunday gave permission to the Power Cell to begin tender process, for the fourth time, for the installation of a 450MW combined-cycle independent power plant at Sirajganj, said sources in the cell.


‘The cell will issue a notice by this week on the pre-qualification of companies and consortiums willing to take part in an international bidding process to set up the plant,’ said an official of the cell.


The Power Division in the past week approved the prequalification documents submitted by the cell for the selection of interested companies and consortiums to install the power plant on a build, own and operate scheme, sources in the division said.


They said the cell had been asked to issue almost similar prequalification documents as it did in selecting companies for the tender process to set up the 360-450MW Bibiyana power plant.
The government has engaged the Asian Development Bank to provide advisory support for the cell in the tender process for the much-talked about power plant.


According to the prequalification documents for the plant at Sirajganj, interested companies and consortiums meeting the criteria will be selected in 76 days after the issuance of the prequalification notice.


The companies and consortiums, according to the criteria, should have two private power generation projects in respect of which they have raised equity financing of at least $50 million and debt financing of at least $150 million in the aggregate in the past 10 years.


Applicants need to provide details in the qualification statements evidencing successful operation and management of at least two power projects with an aggregate capacity of 750MW or more, including at least one combined-cycle power project of a 300MW capacity or more that is connected to the national power grid in the country in which such project is located, and at least one project of which must have been in operation for no less than two years.


Successful applicants will then be requested to submit technical, commercial and financial proposals for the exclusive right to develop the project. The project sponsor will be selected based on the proposals received.


The government will sign an implementation agreement for 22 years with the project sponsor and the Power Development Board will buy 450MW during this period.


The cell has so far invited tenders for three times for the 450MW Sirajganj power plant, last in 2005; but all the bidding processes were cancelled for various reasons.


After this interim government had assumed office, the latest bidding process was cancelled in May to assign the Asian Development Bank a lead advisory role in the design and implementation of the project for more ‘transparency’ in the tender process.


It was the third tender the immediate-past BNP government had invited before it initiated the move twice to set up the power plant and floated tenders between 2002 and 2004.


In the first tendering process, local business house Summit Group had been about to get the contract to set up the plant under a joint venture with the state-owned Power Development Board before the Prime Minister’s Office of the then government scrapped it.


A tender evaluation committee made an offer for a Bangladesh-India joint venture company non-responsive in the second tendering as it was the single bidder.


The cell in September issued a notice on the prequalification of companies and consortiums to set up the 360-450MW Bibiyana power plant and the last date for submission of pre-qualification statement is November 8.


The cell will soon start tender process to set up the 450MW Meghnaghat-III power plant.