Tuesday, December 8, 2009

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Bid for power By Scott Armstrong ~ Guardian Business Editor ~ scott@nasguard.com: Bids to land a $150 million to $300 million contract to upgrade the Clifton Pier Power Station in Nassau - a project which will create hundreds of jobs - have been submitted to the Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC). The major undertaking will see at least one new generator, perhaps two, installed at the site under 'phase four' of BEC's expansion program for Clifton Pier. It will see a modern generator improve the supply to more than 70,000 customers across New Providence and the Family Islands. Three international consortia have submitted bids, one The Nassau Guardian understands is led by the Danish company Burmeister & Wain Scandinavian Contractor, which built the original $100 million extension to the power plant back in 1990. The other two in the race for the prized contract are a Japanese-led consortium and a Korean-led consortium. In all three bids it is understood there will be significant work for Bahamian sub-contractors potentially worth up to $100 million, depending if one or two generators are built. Kevin Basden, general manager of BEC, could not comment on who was bidding but told The Nassau Guardian: "There are two options on the table, one to install one 40 megawatt slow speed diesel generator, and one to have two. "If we go with one it represents $150 million of investment, it's $300 million if we go with two. "This project is about two things, providing for future growth in demand in New Providence and the Family Islands and improving efficiency and reliability now. "This will mean a better more reliable service for our customers and because of the increased efficiency it will reduce running costs for the government. It also meets all international environmental standards. "There will be many spill-over benefits including employment for Bahamians in civil sectors, trucking, construction, work for skilled and semi-skilled people. "If we are talking about numbers who will directly benefit from that it would be in the hundreds." The Clifton Pier Power Station was constructed in 1958 and has come a long from the two steam boilers used back then to generate electricity. Monday, December 7, 2009