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GDC seeking bids for three 30 MW modular geothermal plants

GDC seeking bids for three 30 MW modular geothermal plants Well head plant of Green Energy Group on location, Kenya (source: Green Energy Group)
Alexander Richter 6 Aug 2013

Kenya's Geothermal Development Company (GDC) is seeking bids for the construction of three 30 MW modular geothermal power plants on site at its larger scale Menengai geothermal project.

Kenya’s Geothermal Development Company ( GDC) has invited three bids from eligible firms or investors for the supply and installation of three geothermal modular power plants at the Menengai Geothermal Project.

The three plants, with a combined production capacity of 90 megawatts (30 MW each), are expected to be completed by the end of 2014. “The successful firms will finance, design, procure or manufacture, install, construct and test the plants.

They will also be required to commission, operate and maintain the plant on a 25-year Build Own Operate basis at the Menengai field,” GDC said in the statement yesterday.

The GDC said the 90 MW will be part of the larger 400 MW phase 1 Menengai Project Development, scheduled for commissioning by 2016/2017. “The interim injection of the 90 MW to the grid will offer a reprieve to the consumer who has had to make do with an unstable and expensive power supply,” it said. The bids close on September 16.

The Menengai project is expected to inject 400 megawatts of electricity into the national grid by 2017, which would boost current production by close to a third.”

The overall idea of a 30 MW modular plant is tricky to comprehend, as well as a time frame of around 12 months for the construction. But it will be interesting to see who will be bidding in this tender.

DISCLAIMER: the author is marketing director of Green Energy Group AS, a company that currently builds modular geothermal wellhead plants for KenGen in Kenya.

Source: Xinhua via Standard Media