Zimbabwe backs out of 300-MW solar plan - report

Sep 12, 2014 - Zimbabwe’s State Procurement Board (SBP) has scrapped deals for the construction of three 100-MW solar parks due to the high prices offered by the bidders, Reuters said Wednesday, citing an SBP officer.

The African country had awarded a USD-184-million (EUR 142m) contract to China Jiangxi Corp to construct a 100-MW photovoltaic (PV) plant in a call for tenders. The two losing bidders, Intratek and China’s ZTE Corp (SHE:000063), were later invited to install an additional 200 MW of PV capacity after state-run Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) alarmed that the country will need 300 MW of solar capacity to meet its power demand.

However, the tenders were cancelled as the bidders failed to maintain the original tender price, SPB’s principal officer Cledwyn Nyanhete said, as cited by the news agency.

Intratek Zimbabwe submitted a USD-248-million proposal, while ZTE’s bid amounted to USD 358 million. The two firms were later asked to revise their bids in order to march China Jianxi’s proposal. The latter had its contract recalled by the SPB in August after it tried to lift its bid to over USD 200 million.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.774)

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