The tender for the reconstruction and modernization of hydropower plant Vidraru, operated by Hidroelectrica, has been cancelled, according to the Romanian electronic public procurement system (SEAP).
According to the information on SEAP, the reason for the cancellation is that only unacceptable or non-compliant bids have been submitted and, in line with the Romanian legislation, the contracting entity has the obligation to cancel the procedure for awarding the contract or framework agreement in the following cases: if no bids has been submitted or no admissible bids has been submitted.
In late 2019, Hidroelectrica said that the most favorable bid on the tender for the refurbishment of its HPP Vidraru has been placed by a Chinese consortium consisting of Sinohydro Corporation and Power China Chengdu Engineering. The two companies offered to perform works stated in the tender for a price of 80 million euros, which is lower than Hidroelectrica’s tender estimate at 82 million euros. Second placed in terms of price, French-Romanian consortium consisting of GE Hydro France, Elecnor SA and Grid Solution Romania offered 82 million euros. The other two offers were significantly higher – 113 million euros by a consortium of Romania’s Romelectro and Slovenian Litrostroj Power and 136 million euros by a consortium of Turkish Gulsan Insaat Sanayi Turizm Nakliyat VE Ticaret and Chinese Zhefu Holding Group. According to tender documentation, the subject of the tender are both the design and carrying out of the rehabilitation of the plant, while the selected contractor will have 56 months to complete the works. Hidroelectrica already launched this tender in 2016, but it was cancelled a year later after the company concluded that all submitted bids were unacceptable or not compliant with the tender documentation. The rehabilitation project aims to extend the HPP’s life by at least 30 years and to increase the active power of each generator from 55 MW to at least 58.8 MW, while ensuring better reliability, lowering the maintenance needs and increasing safety in operation. Built between 1961 and 1966, HPP Vidraru was designed to operate predominantly during peak hours, with an installed capacity of 220 MW and an annual average energy output of 400 GWh.
