The Central Energy Fund (CEF) has extended the deadline for interested parties to submit bids for the supply of solar water heaters (SWHs) for the initial phase of a major project roll-out in Port Elizabeth.

Interested parties now had until July 13 to tender bids, as certain minor amendments had been made to the request for proposal document, the CEF notes in an advertisement.

The project would entail the large-scale installation of SWHs for domestic use in the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality (NMBM) during a number of phases over the next five years.

A number of suppliers and installers were expected to participate in the project, a tender document states.

About 100 000 SWHs could potentially be installed in the NMBM, while there was also a national potential installation requirement for 400 000 systems, it added.

This initial call for systems would require batches of 500 systems, although the CEF reserved the right to order any number of units.

Both flat plate and evacuated tube collector SWH systems would be considered for the tender, while offers should include 150-l, 200-l, 250-l and 300-l storage tanks, said the CEF.

It added that back-up electrically operated elements of 2 kW must be included for tanks with a capacity of up to 200 l and 3 kW for tanks with a capacity of up to 300 l.

Suppliers of SWHs had to ensure that their product conformed with the standards as set out by the South African Bureau of Standards and would have to register the equipment under Eskom’s demand-side management subsidy programme once these standards were complied with.