Japanese company Marubeny was selected as a preferred bidder for the realization of the project of construction and management of Plomin C thermal power plant, and HEP expect final negotiations to be completed by the end of this year.
In the process of selecting a strategic partner for the construction and management of Plomin C thermal power plant, three bids were submitted to HEP in late April 2014., and second phase of the selecting process was completed by determining the bidders’ ranking. The preferred bidder is Marubeni from Japan, the second-ranked bidder is the Abeins and Daewoo Consortium, and the third-ranked one is Edison, as was released by HEP at today’s press briefing.
This means that final negotiations with Marubeny, whose main equipment and works supplier is Alston (France), have started and should be completed by the end of this year, what should result in signing or canceling the contract with Japanese partner, at the beginning of 2015. In second case, new negotiations will start with the second, respectively third bidder, HEP officials stated.
Plomin C strategic project predicts the replacement of the Unit 1 with the C Unit, whose predicted power is to be 500 MW. HEP officials expect works to begin in 2015. while its operational use is expected in 2019.
Value of this project exceeds 800 million EUR, which is why HEP officials expressed their gratitude for receiving three good bids, taking into account project’s total value. In bids ranking, technical and financial details decided the winner, and what made the difference for Marubeny were technical and economical elements of the bid, including its complexity, HEP officials stated.
Nevertheless, what follows is the most important process in choosing the partner for Plombin C – ‘fine adjustment’ of the bid, which means negations about specific details.
Marubeny will be financially supported by two Japan development banks, and that is the first time any big financial institution from the Far East finances project in Croatia. Because of that due diligence of HEP is taking place, as well as financial analysis of the state, HEP officials stated, emphasizing that this will be the great opportunity for the whole country.
Those types of financial institutions usually do not enter one market just for a specific project, and this project is a great opportunity to show Japanese investors where else they could invest their money in Croatia, HEP officials emphasize, adding that Marubeny already has Croatian companies on their suppliers’ list, which are going to be supported by Croatian banks and HBOR (Croatian bank for reconstruction and development).