Photo by: Duane Daws
Power utility Namibia Power (NamPower) on Friday announced it would seek investment partners for the $1-billion Kudu combined-cycle gas and steam turbine project, near Oranjemund.
The potential strategic equity investor (SEI) for the much delayed 800 MW gas-to-power project would be selected through a competitive bidding process, which kicked off on Friday after NamPower issued tender prequalification questionnaires.
The State-owned energy group would evaluate prospective bidders’ financial and legal positions, technical and management expertise and project references, as well as their insurability, compliance and quality assurance, besides other requirements.
NamPower would send enquiry documents to the prequalified tenderers during the third quarter of 2013, with the SEI selection expected early during the fourth quarter.
This comes as Namibia aims to accelerate the shift of the bulk of its domestic electricity demand from cross-border suppliers to its own power-generation capacity.
The nation currently generates only 39% of its own electricity, with 40% of its power coming from South Africa’s Eskom and 9% and 12% of power originating from Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation and Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority respectively.
The Kudu gas-to-power station, which will source natural gas from the Kudu gasfield about 170 km offshore, will be connected to the Namibian and South African power grids.
NamPower reported that it would award the contract for the engineering, procurement and construction tender, which closed in May, in the second quarter of 2014.
The 36-month construction phase was scheduled to start during the fourth quarter of 2014, with commissioning of the power station in the second half of 2017.
The closing date for the SEI prequalification is midday August 9.