Bosnia’s top power utility EPBiH has shortlisted 11 international firms and consortia to partner it in building a 450 megawatt (MW) coal-fired unit at its Tuzla power plant, it said on Thursday.
“After an evaluation of preliminary bids in the first phase of the qualifying procedure, EPBiH has picked 11 out of 12 candidates to enter the second round,” the utility said in a statement.
The construction cost is seen at around 1.5 billion Bosnian marka ($997 million) and the project will be one of the largest investments in the Balkan country’s energy infrastructure, where ageing coal-fired plants face rising consumption, it said earlier.
The candidates are China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC), Harbin Electric International, Sepco Electric Power Construction Corp., and two consortia led by China Gezhouba Group Corp and Sepco III Electric Power Construction Corporation.
Europe’s top engineering group Siemens, Japan’s Hitachi, a consortium led by Toshiba, Hungary’s MVM OVIT National Power Line Company, as well as Spain’s private equity firm Cobra Instalaciones y Servicios and Turkish Cengiz Enerji Sanayii were also shortlisted.
The Tuzla plant in northern Bosnia currently produces about 3,100 GWh of power per year at six units.
EPBiH operates two coal-fired plants and three hydro-power plants with a combined capacity of 1,165 MW and 517 MW, respectively.
Unlike other countries in the Western Balkans that rely on imports to cover much of their consumption, Bosnia is a net power exporter.
Source Reuters
