B -- POLAND: STALOWA WOLA COMBINED HEAT AND POWER PLANT REHABILITATION FEASIBILITY STUDY

Notice Date

November 30, 2000

Contracting Office

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

ZIP Code

22209-2131

Response Due

December 18, 2000

Point of Contact

POC -- Evangela Kunene, USTDA, 1621 N. Kent Street, Suite 200, Arlington, VA 22209-2131, Tel: (703) 875-4357, Fax: (703) 875-4009

Description

The Grantee invites submission of Prequalification Statements from interested U.S. firms which are qualified on the basis of experience and capability to develop a feasibility study to examine a major plant modernization and expansion program for Stalowa Wola on a rehabilitate-own-operate basis. Based upon the Prequalification Statements, the Grantee will develop a short list of qualified firms which will be invited in writing to submit a formal Technical Proposal to carry out the study. Elektrownia Stalowa Wola (ESW) operates a to-be-privatized combined heat and power (CHP) plant in southeastern Poland. Its management seeks to work with a U.S. partner that could potentially serve as a strategic technical partner, developer, and major investor in a proposed joint-venture company to upgrade, modernize, and expand its existing facilities. The plant's current owner, the Polish Treasury, welcomes the analysis of this potential partnership, which could serve to increase the value of the asset and involve a likely future American owner in the facility's modernization. Involvement by a U.S. firm during the study does not guarantee that ESW will enter a joint venture with a rehabilitate-own-operate partner. The study merely serves to present this arrangement as a viable and potential option to ESW. Stalowa Wola CHP Plant is situated three hours southeast of Warsaw by car, and has been operating since 1938. Its total installed capacity during its peak operating years was 450 MW of electricity for sale to the local electricity distribution company, and 875 MJ/s of thermal capacity to meet municipal residential heating and hot water requirements, as well as for sale to selected industrial users. Despite two upgrades (1947 and 1966), the facility is in serious disrepair. Further, though the upgrades implemented technology changes to match the changing regional market for power demand, the market continues to change beyond the plant's current capabilities. ESW is a joint stock company whose shares are still owned 100 percent by the State Ministry of Treasury. Stalowa Wola is not scheduled to be privatized until at least September 2001. Accordingly, the current management team is considering the option of proceeding now with a major plant modernization and expansion program on a rehabilitate-own-operate basis prior to this process, so as not to lose any more time or market share before upgrading and expanding its generation system. From the State Treasury's view, its shares in any new joint venture arrangement can only increase in value rather than continue to depreciate in value over time, and they will already have a major interested investor onboard who is familiar with the plant and its operations when it sells its shares. The U.S. firm selected will be paid in U.S. dollars from a $366,310 grant to the Grantees from the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (TDA). TDA's consultants have estimated the total cost to perform the below-listed study tasks at $523,300, utilizing private sector billing rates for senior staff and complying with U.S. Government travel regulations and per diem rates. This means that the selected study contractor would be assuming an implicit cost-share of $156,990. The study tasks are organized according to phases: Phase 1 a) Development of an appropriate transaction structure and term sheets b) Preparation of proposed project development plan and schedule Phase 2 a) Preparation of an updated feasibility study report and environmental assessment Phase 3 a) Development of sound financial structure and financing plan b) Preparation of project information memorandum This project schedule calls for a seven-month effort, with two major milestones during the course of overall project development and execution: A major go-no go decision will be made by the study contractor and ESW after completion of all activities associated with phase one. All parties must approve the proposed transaction structure, term sheets, proposed project development strategy and plan, and revised implementation schedule before moving on to the feasibility assessment and conceptual design update stage. A second go-no go decision will be made by the study contractor and ESW after completion of the updated feasibility assessment at the end of phase two. If the study contractor and ESW feel that the project is not feasible from either a technical, economic, or financial perspective, then the study contractor will not proceed any further to the financial structuring, draft project agreement, and project information memorandum stage. With a no go decision, TDA's continued funding for the subsequent phases will also cease. We expect that TDA will concur with any go decision, since the Contractor would be making a substantial commitment of its own resources. A detailed Request for Proposals (RFP), which includes the requirements for submission of the Prequalification Statements and the Technical 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 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 Prequalification Statements as outlined in the RFP in English directly to the Grantee by 4:00 PM on December 18, 2000, at the above address. Evaluation criteria for the Prequalification Statements and 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 right to reject any and/or all Prequalification Statements or 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.

Record

Loren Data Corp. 20001204/BSOL001.HTM (W-335 SN5077X7)