The Republic of Maldives has launched a tender process, seeking to procure battery energy storage systems (BESS) in an energy transition project supported by Asian Development Bank (ADB) funding.
Supported by the ADB through the Accelerating Sustainable System Development Using Renewable Energy (ASSURE) Project with a grant of US$41.5 million for the project, the tender aims to provide BESS and energy management systems (EMS) across 18 islands in the Maldives and seeks to add around 40MWh of capacity, according to Jaimes Kolantharaj, senior energy specialist at the ADB, on a social media post.
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The country continues to seek renewable capacity in order to reduce its reliance on diesel, and launched two programmes in 2014 working towards increasing its renewable capacity across its more than 1,000 islands. The first one was Preparing Outer Islands for Sustainable Energy Development (POISED) – supported by the ADB – to introduce solar photovoltaic battery-based hybrid systems in outer islands. The second, Accelerating Sustainable Private Investments in Renewable Energy (ASPIRE) which is supported by the World Bank, aims to mobilise private sector investments in solar photovoltaic in the greater Male region.
Following the work done with the ASPIRE programme, the country launched several tenders, financed by the World Bank similar to this latest one. In 2021 the country sought 40MW/40MWh of BESS across several regions, which appears to have been dropped, but was then reopened again last year, still seeking 40MWh of BESS.
Contracts will cover design, supply and installation of BESS and EMS.
In order to be eligible to participate in the current tender, bidders require the following qualifications:
- Minimum average annual turnover of US$47.25 million calculated as total certified payments received for contracts in progress or completed, within the last three years.
- Participation as a contractor, joint venture partner, or subcontractor, in at least two contracts that have been satisfactorily and substantially completed within the last five years and that are similar to the proposed contract, where the value of the bidder’s participation under each contract exceeds US$25.2 million.
Deadline for applications to submit a bid has been set for 10 October 2023, however interested bidders will be required to register first with the South Asian island nation’s Ministry of Finance between 20 August and 08 October 2023 with a payment of US$100 and then fill the bidding document.
Bidders awarded will be required to complete the project in 360 days.
For more information regarding the bidding process as well as the documentation to submit a bid is available on the Ministry of Finance’s website here.
