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Hwange tender winner to be announced

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THE winner for the $1 billion dollar expansion of Hwange thermal power station tender will be announced in the first quarter of next year, it has been learnt.

THE winner for the $1 billion dollar expansion of Hwange thermal power station tender will be announced in the first quarter of next year, it has been learnt.

Report by Mernat Mafirakurewa

Energy and Power Development secretary Partson Mbiriri last week said the adjudication process was already underway.

“The tender process is underway and the adjudication process is taking place,” he said.

“ Adjudication process involves negotiations on large projects like this, all too often people think that it is a question of determining who is the winner and the following day, sign a contract.”

“We hope the bidding process will end in terms of adjudication and of course, the final say is by the State Procurement Board (SPB). “We hope that early in the New Year we will have that process coming to an end, but we will still have financial closure.”

SPB has narrowed down to two, Sino Hydro and China National Machinery Corporation as the bidders vying for the contract to expand the Hwange Power Station.

Mbiriri said expansion of Hwange would require three times more than the $400 million needed for the Kariba South expansion.

“In the case of Hwange, the amount involved is three times what we are talking about here, which means we will need somebody with very big and deep pockets to come join the party,” he said.

“We hope that, not withstanding the protracted negotiations that sometimes take place, in the first quarter of next year we should be able to finalise the tender relating to the expansion of Hwange.”

SinoHydro last week signed the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract paving way for the expansion of Kariba South expected to add 300 MW to the national electricity grid.

Zimbabwe requires about 2 200 MW at peak times but only generates around 1 400 MW, with the shortfall imported from regional power utilities.

Hwange is currently using six units and the expansion will see the station adding two units.