The Republic of Maldives has reopened a tender process, seeking to procure 40MWh of battery energy storage systems (BESS) in an energy transition project supported by World Bank funding.
The South Asian island nation’s Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Technology announced the reopening this morning. Eligible bidders have been given until 1pm local time on 27 October 2022 to submit their completed bids but must register with the Maldives Ministry of Finance between 4 August and 20 October first.
Financing support has been approved from the World Bank through its Accelerating Renewable Energy Integration and Sustainable Energy (ARISE) Project for the country and the Maldives government will apply part of that funding towards the cost of making payments to BESS providers under contract.
Tendering will be done in two lots. The first will be for 23MW/23MWh of BESS at seven different regions of the country, the second for 13.5MW/17MWh of BESS at eight locations on the Laamu Atoll islands and four other sites.
Bidding is open for both lots simultaneously and participants may bid in both if they choose.
Contracts will cover design, supply, installation and commissioning of BESS and energy management systems (EMS) which will enable them to optimise operation of solar PV-plus-diesel generator power plants around the islands.
In line with World Bank regulations for procurements, the Maldives Ministry of Finance will conduct the tender through a international competitive procurement process based on Requests for Bids.
As reported by Energy-Storage.news just over a year ago as the government first launched the tender, the ARISE programme is supporting the deployment of 30MW of solar PV across the islands, and the batteries will be key to enabling the renewable energy being used effectively.
Some key details appear to have changed since the June 2021 launch of the original tender, which was issued in two lots of 24MW/24MWh and 16MW/16MWh, but again adding up to a total 40MWh of battery storage. Tender documents from 2021 also appear to cover a wider scope of services, referring to contracts for supply, install, commission, operate and transfer of BESS.
Energy-Storage.news has reached out to the World Bank and the Maldives Ministry of Finance to ask why the tender is being reopened and what accounts for the differences between last year’s issued bid documents and this year’s.
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