Fresh bids likely to help country save $4b

Price for replacing turbine at Mangla station stands lower by Rs665m

LAHORE: Financial bids of three technically responsive bidders were opened at the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) House for the purchase of six power generating units each having a capacity of 135 megawatts, says Wapda.

These units will be installed at the Mangla Hydel Power Station as part of a refurbishment project.



According to a press release, this is the second time a tender had been floated, which attracted offers from Alstom Hydro France, Voith Hydro Germany and Andritz Hydro Austria.

“The fresh bidding is expected to benefit the national exchequer by about Rs4 billion as the price quoted for a turbine stands lower by Rs665 million,” Wapda said.

During the previous bidding process, which was initiated for the purchase of two power generating units and was later abandoned, the lowest bid price for a unit was Rs2.377 billion, which has now been reduced to Rs1.712 billion.

However, in the first tender, Alstom Hydro France - the lowest bidder - was debarred by the World Bank. Consequently, Wapda cancelled the tender and started the process afresh. By that time, the restriction imposed on Alstom had been lifted, allowing it to participate in the tender again.

In addition to the savings, Wapda said it would be able to complete the refurbishment of six units in five years by adopting a fast-track approach.



The project will increase the production capacity of Mangla Hydel Power Station from 1,000MW to 1,310MW, an increase of 310MW.

At present, the power station has 10 units with a capacity of 100MW each and a useful life of 30 years extendable up to 35 years.

The first unit was commissioned in 1967. Despite the completion of their useful life long ago, all units have still been running efficiently and generating electricity in accordance with the installed capacity.

In order to benefit from an additional 2.88 million acre feet of water, Wapda had planned the refurbishment of the power station. By the year 2022, all 10 units will be refurbished to complete the project.

According to the approved PC-I, the project will cost Rs52.224 billion, of which the USAID is providing $150 million as a grant while the remaining will be arranged by Wapda through loans.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 5^th, 2015.

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