Contact: Mr. Rajcoomar Bikoo, Acting Chief Technical Officer, Ministry of Public Utilities, Level 10, Air Mauritius Centre, 5 President John Kennedy St., Port Louis, Mauritius, Phone: 011-230-210-0896, Fax: 011-230-208-4697

B -- MAURITIUS GREENFIELD POWER PLANT AT FORT WILLIAM FEASIBILITY STUDY POC Evangela Kunene, USTDA, 1621 N. Kent Street, Suite 300, Arlington, VA 22209-2131, Tel: (703) 875-4357, Fax: (703) 875-4009. Mauritius Greenfield Power Plant at Fort William Feasibility Study. The Grantee invites submission of from interested U.S. firms which are qualified on the basis of experience and capability to develop a feasibility study that will allow the Government of Mauritius to manage the development of an independent thermal power generation facility at Fort William in Mauritius. Today, the total installed capacity in Mauritius is approximately 250 MW, of which about 55% is diesel-fired, 22% gas-fired, 8% coal-fired, and 15% hydroelectric. There are also some small-scale IPPs generating power at sugar mills through bagasse-fired cogeneration. The Central Electricity Board has determined, through independent analysis and reviews by foreign companies, that work needs to begin on additional generation capacity, and has identified 7.8 hectares of vacant land near Ft. William for the construction of a new base load facility. The plant plays a central role in the governments planned expansion of the sector, and a study is needed to finalize some of the development options (i.e. fuel, capacity, expansion, and connection to the grid) before it can go forward independently. The project is expected to begin with the construction of a 50 -- 100 MW thermal power plant, increased in subsequent phases to reach 200 MW of capacity by 2004. The Fort William power plant is one of the projects identified to be implemented under a new (July 22, 1997) Mauritian law that allows infrastructure projects to be set up and run by private industry. One of the most important remaining issues to be settled is the optimum option for fuel source for the plant. Gas, coal, and diesel are all used on the island today and could be used to fuel a greenfield power plant near Ft. William. There are different costs and benefits associated with each option which must be explored, and the entire development model is sensitive to this selection. The tasks for the U.S. contractor to complete are summarized as follows: 1) Review Existing Information; 2) Evaluate Siting and Land Use Issues; 3) Evaluate Fuel Procurement, Supply & Pricing; 4) Evaluate Power Plant Technology & Transmission Facilities Requirements; 5) Evaluate Environmental Impacts Project Permit Requirements; 6) Estimate Project Capital Costs; 7) Estimate Project Operations & Maintenance Costs; 8) Identify and Evaluate Issues Relevant to a Power Sales Agreement; 9) Develop Project Financing Options; 10) Prepare Project Construction Schedule; and 11) Prepare a Final Report. The U.S. firm selected will be paid in U.S. dollars from a $390,240 grant to the Grantees from the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (TDA). A detailed Request for Proposals (RFP), which includes the requirements for submission of the Technical Proposal, the Terms of Reference, and a background definitional mission report are available from TDA, at 1621 N. Kent Street, Suite 300, Arlington, VA 22209-2131. Requests for the RFP should be faxed to the IRC, TDA at 703-875-4009. In the fax, please include your firms name, contact person, address, and telephone number. Some firms have found that RFP materials sent by U.S. mail do not reach them in time for preparation of an adequate response. Firms that want TDA to use an overnight delivery service should include the name of the delivery service and your firm's account number in the request for the RFP. Firms that want to send a courier to TDA to retrieve the RFP should allow one hour after faxing the request to TDA before scheduling a pick-up. Please note that no telephone requests for the RFP will be honored. Please check your internal fax verification receipt. Because of the large number of RFP requests, TDA cannot respond to requests for fax verification. Requests for RFPs received before 4:00 PM will be mailed the same day. Requests received after 4:00 PM will be mailed the following day. Please check with your courier and/or mail room before calling TDA. Only U.S. firms and individuals may bid on this TDA financed activity. Interested firms, their subcontractors and employees of all participants must qualify under TDA's nationality requirements as of the due date for submission of qualifications and proposals and, if selected to carry out the TDA-financed activity, must continue to meet such requirements throughout the duration of the TDA-financed activity. All goods and services to be provided by the selected firm shall have their nationality, source and origin in the U.S. or host country. The U.S. firm may use subcontractors from host country for up to 20 percent of the TDA grant amount. Details of TDA's nationality requirements and mandatory contract clauses are also included in the RFP. Interested U.S. firms should submit their Technical Proposals as outlined in the RFP in English directly to the Grantee by 4:00 p.m. Friday, September 4, 1998, at the above address. Evaluation criteria for the Technical Proposals are included in the RFP. Price will NOT be a factor in contractor selection, and therefore, cost proposals should NOT be submitted. The Grantee reserves the rightto reject any and/or all Technical Proposals. The Grantee also reserves the right to contract with the selected firm for subsequent work related to the project. The Grantee is not bound to pay for any costs associated with the preparation and submission of Proposals. Posted 07/20/98 (I-SN225692). (0201)

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