Agreement signed for Nandipur’s operation, maintenance

Decision to outsource is according to recommendations of regulator

ISLAMABAD: The agreement for long-term operation and maintenance of the 425-megawatt (MW) Nandipur Power Plant was signed at Nandipur on Monday between Northern Power Generation Company limited (NPGCL) and Hydro Electric Power System Engineering Company of China (HEPSEC) for a period of ten years or two major inspections, whichever is later.

The decision to outsource the operation and maintenance of the Nandipur Power Plant is in pursuance of the recommendations of the regulator, and a policy decision by the government to outsource the operation and maintenance of new power plant.

The Nandipur power plant has been fully operation since July 2015 and currently operating on furnace oil. Work is already under way to convert the plant’s operation to natural gas.

To this end, an 88-kilometre pipeline is being laid and work is also ongoing on the plant site to convert the plant to gas operation.

The plant’s conversion, which is expected to be completed by the end of April 2017, will significantly improve its performance, reduce operating costs, and result in overall improvement.

With this conversion, the generation capacity of the plant will increase from 425 to 525 MW.

NPGCL through international competitive bidding invited experienced contractors to bid for the long-term operations and maintenance contract for the Nandipur plant. After evaluation and scrutiny of the bids, HEPSEC’s bid was found to be the lowest out of the four bidders.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 7^th, 2017.

Like Business on Facebook, follow @TribuneBiz on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.