[ad_1]
$8.6 million contract awarded for Welsh power plant control centre
Alfred King, permanent secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office, signed the $8.6 million contract with Shen Dan, chief representative of PowerChina International Group Co., Ltd. on Tuesday.
– Although the government continues to conceal key details of the project
Kaieteur News – The Government of Guyana, through the Office of the Prime Minister, on Tuesday signed a US$8.6 million contract with PowerChina International Group Limited for the construction of the Guyana National Control Centre (GNCC).
Kaieteur News It is understood that the construction of GNCC is a project being executed by the Prime Minister’s Office to manage the affairs of gas-fired power plants.
India’s National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) announced the contract award and revealed on its website that the contract was awarded on June 21, 2024, with a contract value of $1,827,929,605 ($8.6 million).
The project will take 13 months and the building will be constructed at Beterverwagting, East Coast Demerara (ECD).
The Prime Minister’s Office of Guyana reportedly issued a tender document last year seeking “engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services for the construction of the Guyana National Control Centre Building” and China Power Engineering International Group Co., Ltd. was one of several companies bidding for the contract.
The tender document states that the control centre will support the integration and dispatch of the new 300 MW combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power plant and allow the Guyana Power and Light Company (GPL) to supervise, manage and control the new upgraded power system.
The Prime Minister’s Office explained that the scope of work includes all EPC activities required to complete the building and install all systems specified in the employer’s requirements. This includes, but is not limited to, the contractor’s overall responsibility for the design, procurement, construction, commissioning, defects notification period and maintenance of the building to meet the specified performance and functional standards.
The RFP also explains: “The scope of work also includes the supply and installation of complete diesel generator sets with a requirement for continuous operation. The capacity of the generator sets shall be ISO rated for 125% of the design load capacity of the GNCC building. In addition, the scope of work includes a building of appropriate size to house the generator sets and ISO fuel tank capacity to enable 24-hour autonomous operation.”
As per the GPL requirements, the EPC contractor is required to complete all civil works associated with the transformer installation.
An article in the Department of Public Information (DPI) quoted Prime Minister Mark Phillips as saying at the contract signing ceremony: “This is very important for the entire transmission and distribution management of the electricity delivered by the gas-to-power project. As a result, the people of Guyana will benefit from adequate electricity by 2025.”
New power plant
Kaieteur News The 300 megawatt (MW) CCGT plant is part of the much-touted Welsh Gas to Power (GTE) project, which includes a 12-inch pipeline funded by ExxonMobil to transport gas from the Liza One and Liza Two fields in the Stabroek block to the Welsh development.
There, the gas will be processed by a natural gas liquefaction (NGL) facility, which will separate and process its components to provide other resale products, such as cooking gas. Some of the processed gas will be used to generate about 300 megawatts of electricity to feed the national grid.
The NGL facility and power plant are expected to be financed through a loan from the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM). The government said the application is still subject to approval.
Notably, the pipeline portion is expected to cost $1 billion, while the contract for the construction of the gas plant was awarded to CH4-Lindsayca for $759 million.
Natural Gas Energy Agreement
Meanwhile, the construction of the National Control Centre is said to be the final phase of the Gas to Power project, and the Guyana government has yet to announce any agreements signed with ExxonMobil or other contractors involved in the project. The GTE project, with an investment of US$2 billion and no feasibility study to support it, remains the largest single financial project ever undertaken in Guyana.
The government has reportedly signed a master agreement (HOA) with Stabroek Co-ventures, ExxonMobil, Hess and CNOOC, outlining the principles and conditions of the commercial and technical arrangements for the deal, starting in 2022.
An artist’s impression of a natural gas-fired power project.
Three months ago, when Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo was asked by the newspaper at his weekly press conference when the agreements would be announced, he responded “probably soon,” the newspaper reported.
In fact, the chief decision-maker in the oil and gas sector pointed out that the details of the agreement were already known to the public. According to him, “everything mentioned in the agreement is known to you… We told you the price – $750 million; we told you the timeline for implementation; you know how many turbines there are and what size they are… You know what the liquidated damages are.”
Therefore, when asked when the deal will be presented in parliament, Jagdeo said: “Maybe soon, I don’t know. I don’t know. That’s for Gael Teixeira and others.”
When contacted by Kaieteur News during the National Assembly session at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre on July 8, Parliamentary Affairs and Governance Minister Gael Teixeira explained: “I don’t know if the document is ready.”
The minister pointed out that before the documents are laid before the House, they have to go through “different channels” and insisted that “there is a certain time for these documents to be laid before the House but it does not happen automatically.”
Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat was also asked to comment on the announcement of the agreement at the same meeting and he said he was busy and would respond to the question later. After this newspaper insisted on his comment, the minister asked that the question be forwarded to him at that time.
Opposition parties in the National Assembly have repeatedly tried and failed to gain access to agreements and key documents related to the country’s largest infrastructure project.
It was previously reported that the Prime Minister had recommitted to present the agreement for the project to Parliament during this year’s review of the 2024 Budget Estimates. He explained that there was insurance in place for the construction phase of the project and the relevant documents could be presented to the House of Representatives. He was responding to MP Patterson’s question on whether the works currently supporting the gas plant were insured and whether the government could establish these insurances in Parliament.
related
[ad_2]
Source link
