19 COMPANIES SUBMIT RFQS’ TO THE BVIEC WITH HOPES OF QUALIFYING TO BID FOR THE MICROGRID PROJECT AT PARAQUITA BAY

The BVI Electricity Corporation’s Microgrid Project at Paraquita Bay is now one step closer to commencing after 19 companies submitted their Request for Quotation (RFQ) last Friday.

The companies were tasked with submitting information to the BVIEC to be evaluated for the purposes of qualifying them for a future tender for Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) Services.

The scope of the project includes Solar PV, Battery Storage, Power Management Systems, a Substation and will require undergrounding of electrical cables, with options for integration with existing fossil fuel generating assets in the BVI.

Electricity Corporation’s General Manager Leroy Abraham said all 19 applications will be evaluated in accordance with the criteria specified in the RFQ which all entities must satisfy in order to be prequalified.

“The evaluation committee comprising of BVIEC and its industry partners will carefully and thoroughly review each application to see if it meets the requirements specified in the RFQ document; those that do will be qualified and naturally those that don’t will be disqualified. Remember this is a process to prequalify companies to bid on the project once the bid documents are completed; so only those companies which are qualified will be allowed to bid,” Abraham explained.

Huge interest speaks to BVI as regional leader in clean energy

The GM also said that the huge interest shown by the 19 submissions which also include prominent international companies, is evident that the BVI is amongst the top countries in the region when it comes to transitioning to renewable energy.

He said, “BVIEC’s projects are advertised in some of the most recognised periodicals in the renewable energy industry which results in international interest from some of the biggest names operating in this space. Clearly it positions the BVI as a regional leader with respect to its clean energy transition.”

Project to build resilience to the transmission network

Abraham also spoke to the significance of the project once completed, which he said will aid in strengthening the territories resilience in instances of natural disasters.

“This completion of this project will add much needed resilience to the transmission network in the event of another extreme weather events such as Hurricanes Irma & Maria, add renewable energy and battery energy storage so as to reduce the quantum of fossil fuel energy needing to be produced and aids in achieving the renewable energy targets set by the government,” Abraham explained.

$600,000 CDB Funding

Back in January 2021, BVIEC announced that it had secured a technical assistance grant funding through the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB)  which was provided by the Canadian Support to the Energy Sector in the  Caribbean (CSES-C) Fund.

The 19 companies included:

1. JV Kelly Construction Atec
2. Core Development Group
3. Ctechi Group Ltd
4. Valard
5. Ozz Group Inc
6. Sylvester Engineering Ltd
7. Compass Solutions International Ltd
8. Groupotec Renewables Ltd
9. Kline Maintenance & Construction Ltd
10. Gearing Up Limited
11. Sma Solar Academy
12. VONK
13. Deltro Group Ltd
14. Dhybrid Power Systems Gmbh
15. China Machinery Engineering Corporation
16. Your Eco Construction Ltd
17. Burmeister & Wain Scandinavian Contractor A/S (BWSC)
18.  Autland Heavy Equipment & Salt Energy
19. Sino Soar Hybrid (Beijing) Technology Co. Ltd

The submissions were made during a virtual ceremony on January 7, 2022, where companies had to submit applications ahead of a 2:00 pm deadline.

Applicants of the project furnished the BVI Electricity Corporation (BVIEC) with information that will be evaluated for the purposes of qualifying them for a future tender for Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) Services for a microgrid project at Paraquita Bay

“Over the next upcoming weeks we will be going through all of the applications, ensuring that they comply with the requirements as issued and you should be hearing back from us shortly with regards to who has been pre-qualified,” Mr Abraham told representatives of the various companies on January 7, 2022.

References

19 companies submit RFQ applications for BVIEC’s Microgrid Project. 19 companies submit RFQ applications for BVIEC’s Microgrid Project | Virgin Islands News Online. (n.d.). Retrieved January 13, 2022, from https://www.virginislandsnewsonline.com/en/news/19-companies-submit-rfq-applications-for-bviecs-microgrid-project-