22 companies bid for ‘Green Bartica Plan’

As Government forges ahead with plans to make Bartica in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), a model green town, more than 20 companies – local, regional and international – have bid for the project via a public tendering process.

The ‘Green Bartica Plan’, which was introduced for the new town in December 2015, is said to be a holistic approach to Government’s sustainable economic growth.

As such, the Public Infrastructure Ministry has solicited proposals from independent power producers to design and develop a generation system utilising an appropriate renewable energy technology or combination of technologies, under a Build Own Operate and Transfer structure, to supply 1.5 megawatts (MW) of power to the GPL Bartica grid under a negotiated and agreed Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).

On Monday, the ‘Request for Proposal’ for submissions based on solar technology closed with a total of 22 bids. Among the local companies vying for the project are Scheherazade Isoof Khan Business Development, GMS Solar, Pinnacle Construction and Engineering Guyana, Our Sun Guyana Inc and K&P Project Management Company.

Meanwhile, bidders from the Region include the Jamaica Energy Partners, Trinidad and Tobago Power Ventures Ltd, Innogen Technologies Inc from Barbados and Curaçao’s DYNAF Caribbean.

A total of 12 companies from North America and one from Germany have submitted proposals. UDECM Inc, Green Heart Tree Energy, Sun Moon Energy and Deltro Group from Canada, along with US companies Solar City, Future First Energy Experts and Suntuity, Roraima Consulting Inc, Blue Tech Financing Solutions, Associated Energy Developers, Solus Energy, AGRLNDMAR Global and Peka Solar & Renewable Energy Inc. The German company is SMA Sunbelt Energy.

The opening of the tenders was facilitated by the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA), during which representatives from 10 of the bidding companies attended. The process was observed by Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GEA, Dr Mahender Sharma, and CEO of the Hinterland Electrification Company Inc, Horace Williams.

In brief closing remarks, Dr Sharma expressed appreciation to the bidders for their participation in the tender and support of Guyana’s vision for energy security following a sustainable path.

The proposals will be evaluated on criteria such as: how well the proposed project is defined and the likelihood of it reaching the minimum energy output target; the energy price compared to other proposals and GPL’s avoided cost for its Bartica operations; how quickly the project can supply electricity to the Bartica Grid; the guaranteed firm capacity and availability of the system, and the proposer’s experience in power generation using the proposed renewable energy technology or technologies.

Following the evaluation process, a shortlist of qualified firms will be formally engaged by the Public Infrastructure Ministry and invited to submit full comprehensive proposals.