Bidding for wind farm tender to launch by end of September

The Ministry of Energy and Water (MEW) is scheduled to deliver on Sept. 27 the request for proposal (RFP) documents to companies and consortiums that have submitted their expression of interest (EOI) for the second round of bidding for wind farm projects, said Pierre El Khoury Director General of the Lebanese Center for Energy Conservation (LCEC).

The projects involve building and operating wind farms across the country to generate 500 megawatt (MW) of electricity, Khoury said.

The companies and consortiums usually have to submit their bids for the tender within six months after receiving the RFP documents.

The MEW will take between six months and one year to complete the evaluation of the bids.

The deals will be awarded to four or five contractors. Selected contractors will be responsible for all aspects of the wind farm. They have to secure financing for the project, acquire the land, obtain all needed permits, build, own, and operate the wind farm, in addition to providing maintenance work.

The winning companies/consortiums will operate the wind farms for 20 years and sell the energy to Electricité du Liban (EDL) under a power purchase agreement (PPA), Khoury said.

Electricity will be sold to EDL at a price that will be lower by around 20 percent than the latest price agreed upon in the first round, according to Khoury. During the first round, the MEW and contractors agreed on a price of 10.45 cents per one kilowatt-hour (kWh) for the first three years and 9.6 cents for the remaining 17 years.

The new agreement could be extended after the 20-year period.