Bosnia shortlists three bidders for 450-MW plant

SARAJEVO - Reuters

Bosnian EPBiH has shortlisted three bidders to build a 450 MW plant. REUTERS photo

Bosnia’s biggest utility EPBiH has shortlisted Japan’s Hitachi, a Spanish-led group and a Chinese consortium to build a 450 MW coal-fired unit at its Tuzla plant.

EPBiH chose the three bidders out of 11 international firms and consortia which had applied to build the unit at the Tuzla plant, at an estimated cost of around 1.65 billion Bosnian marka ($1.1 billion), an EPBiH spokeswoman said.

The project will be one of the largest investments in the Balkan country’s ageing energy infrastructure, where outdated coal-fired plants face rising consumption.

Turkish company in 11

EPİH picked 11 out of 12 candidates to enter second round after an evaluation of preliminary bids in the first phase at the end of 2012..The shortlisted firms were China Machinery Engineering Corp, Harbin Electric International, Sepco Electric Power Construction, and two consortia led by China Gezhouba Group and Sepco III Electric Power Construction.Siemens, Hitachi, Hungary’s MVM OVIT National Power Line, Spain’s Cobra Instalaciones y Servicios, Turkish Cengiz Enerji Sanayii, and a consortium led by Toshiba were also shortlisted.

Of the three bidders that have been short-listed, the Spanish group is led by Cobra, a technology subsidiary of Spanish infrastructure firm ACS, and includes Toshiba a unit of Hungary’s state-owned power company MVM, and Poland’s RAFACO, a branch of France’sAlstom SA .

The Chinese consortium includes Gezhouba Group Corp. and Guandong Electric Power Design, EPBiHspokeswoman Midheta Kurspahic told Reuters.

EPBiH, the biggest of Bosnia’s three power utilities, operates two coal-fired plants and three hydro power plants with a combined capacity of 1,165 megawatts (MW) and 517 MW, respectively.

The company plans to invest around 390 million marka in 2013 in three hydro plant projects and the modernization of its coal mines.