By IANS
New Delhi : The Andhra Pradesh Power Generation Corporation (Apgenco) has cancelled the tendering process for the implementation of its 2X800 MW supercritical Krishnapatnam power project and has decided to call for fresh bidding, sources said.
The state power utility decided to cancel the ongoing bidding process for the project after it received lukewarm response from overseas power equipment suppliers. The Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) was the only power equipment-maker to bid for the project, according to the sources.
“Apgenco preferred to go for re-tendering instead of opening the received bid on the ground that it might end up paying a higher price to the BHEL, which was the single bidder for the project,” a senior official in the state utility told IANS.
“This time, the Apgenco has decided to issue three separate tenders for supply of the boiler, turbine and Balance-of-the Plan (BoP) packages, in departure from its earlier strategy to award a turnkey contract to a single vendor for the project,” the official added.
The Apgenco has envisaged implementation of the Krishnapatnam power project in the coastal area of Andhra Pradesh at an estimated cost of Rs.80 billion, and plans to use a mix of domestic and imported coal to fire this capacity. It has proposed to meet the cooling water requirement of the project from the nearby sea.
The Apgenco’s Krishnapatnam project is included under the power ministry’s 11th Plan capacity addition programme. The first and second unit of the project are scheduled for commissioning in May 2010 and November 2011 respectively.
However, the state sector developer’s plan to award key contracts for the implementation of the project is running behind schedule drawn by it.
And it looks unlikely that the developer will be able to award the contract in time for the vendor to commission this capacity in the current plan period.
According to industry experts, at least 54 month’s time will be required for vendors to complete the first unit of the project and another six months will be required for the second unit.
“Besides, integrating equipment procured from three different vendors will also pose a problem, for sorting which the Apgenco might need the help of an outside consultant,” said the experts.
Earlier, the Apgenco had planned to invite bids for the project by June this year but deferred it to October on a request from Doosan, Korea-based power equipment major. However, when the developer issued the tender in October, Doosan failed to submit a bid.