USTDA, 1621 N. Kent Street, Suite 200, Arlington, VA 22209-2131

A -- MINING LINE 500 KV TRANSMISSION LINE PROJECT IN ARGENTINA DUE 051700 POC POC Evangela Kunene, USTDA, Tel: (703) 875-4357, Fax: (703) 875-4009. Ing. Daniel Perucca, Director of Mining Development, Secretariat of Mining and Industry, Avenida Julio A. Roca 651, Piso 8, Capital Federal, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Phone: 541 11 4 349 3137, Fax: 541 11 4 349 4458 A -- Mining Line 500 kV Transmission Line Project in Argentina POC Evangela Kunene, USTDA, 1621 N. Kent Street, Suite 200, Arlington, VA 22209-2131, Tel: (703) 875-4357, Fax: (703) 875-4009. Mining Line 500 kV Transmission Line Project in Argentina. The Grantee invites submission of qualifications and proposal data (collectively referred to as the "Proposal") from interested U.S. firms which are qualified on the basis of experience and capability to develop a feasibility study for the development of a 500kV transmission line that would run through the heart of Argentina's mining region and that would be used to meet the ever growing energy demands of mining projects in Argentina. Argentina has a number of attractive mineral deposits adjacent to the Andes cordillera. The development of those resources has been constrained in the past by limited infrastructure, including that for electricity, in the prospective mining regions. Argentina also has extensive energy resources, both hydroelectric and natural gas, in those regions. The energy resources have been intensively exploited over the past decade in connection with the pathbreaking demonopolization of major portions of the Argentine economy. Significant amounts of Argentine-source energy are currently exported, and there is an expectation that exports will increase materially in the future. The Secretariat of Industry and Mining, and in particular the Subsecretariat of Mining, wishes to make Argentina's native energy resources more available to Argentina's own mining industry. In addition, Argentina has been a world leader in establishing a sophisticated institutional, legal and regulatory framework for the electricity sector over the last decade. The Argentine electricity sector has achieved substantial benefits from introducing marketsto replace central planning for generation and commercialization of electric energy. Those benefits derive from the fact that neither sector is a "natural monopoly", so market discipline and the related efficiencies can be imposed. In conjunction with the new transmission market initiatives, with the purpose of enhancing the reliability and reducing the cost of energy supplies to the prospective mining areas, the Subsecretariat of Mining is sponsoring a number of new 500 kV transmission segments to complete a looped and redundant high voltage transmission system in some of the principal mining areas. The Feasibility Study Contractor will prepare those documents and information which are required to be submitted to the National Electricity Regulator of Argentina ("ENRE") in connection with obtaining a CPCN for the Projects. The documents and information will conform to the requirements of ENRE, and the Feasibility Study Contractor will work with ENRE and the Subsecretariat of Mining to establish the exact nature and format of the information required to present a complete CPCN application to ENRE. Following is a summary of tasks: Description and Documentation of the Argentine Electric Sector and Recent Changes to Stimulate Economic Transmission Investment. Identification of the generalized optimal route of the corridor. Preparation of budgetary estimates of the costs of the required facilities, including transmission structures, insulators and cables, civil works, substations, etc. Quantification of current congestion costs on the relevant portions of Argentine grid and projections of future congestion costs with and without the installation of the Projects. Quantification of the anticipated commercial benefits which would accrue to the Inversores a Riesgo as a result of the Projects. Quantification of all of the systemwide economic benefits resulting from the installation of the Projects. Identification of the potential beneficiaries of the Projects, including generators with expanded market opportunities and current and future consumers with access to lower-cost supplies. Preparation of an environmental impact study. Preparation of solicitation documents. The U.S. firm selected will be paid in U.S. dollars from a $230,000 grant to the Grantee from the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (TDA). A detailed Request for Proposals (RFP), which includes requirements for the Proposal, the Terms of Reference, and a background definitional mission report are available from TDA, at 1621 N. Kent Street, Suite 200, 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 firm's 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 the 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 Proposal in Spanish and English directly to the Grantee by 5:00 p.m., May 17, 2000 at the above address. Evaluation criteria for the Proposal 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 right to reject any and/or all 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 04/12/00 (W-SN444173). (0103)

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