The RIII-EPC contract, which has an estimated total value of €450 million (excluding VAT), will include the EPC and commissioning of a 45 m-high embankment dam with a spillway, low level outlet, and eco-flow powerhouse; a 3.8 km-long, 6 to 7 m-diameter, concrete-lined headrace tunnel from the reservoir to the powerhouse; penstocks; the power station and switchyard; an 8.3 km-long 220 kV double-circuit transmission line connecting the Ruzizi III substation to the regional dispatch station in Kamanyola (DRC); access roads; and, all ancillary and related works. The power station will have three or four generating units, providing an installed capacity of 150 to 200 MW, depending on ongoing design finalization, according to the tender notice published on the EU’s procurement website TED on 11 November.
The developer Ruzizi III Energy intends to pre-qualify and select a maximum of six contractors and consortia to participate in the tender for the RII-EPC contract. The RII-EPC contract is planned to be tendered in the second quarter of 2021 with work beginning in Q2/Q3 2022.
The Public Private Partnership project on the Ruzizi river, which flows from Lake Kivu to Lake Tanganyika and which delineates the southern border of Rwanda with DRC and also forms the border between DRC and Burundi, is being developed on a Build, Own, Operate, Transfer (BOOT) basis by Ruzizi III Energy, a consortium of IPS, the industrial and infrastructure development arm of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED), and SN Power of Norway, on behalf of the Governments of Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda.
A 25-year concession agreement as well as PPAs was signed in July 2019 between the developer, the three Governments and the respective national utilities of Burundi, the DRC, and Rwanda. The project will cost an estimated US$ 650-700 million with concessional funding to be provided by the Africa Development Bank, the European Investment Bank, the European Union, Germany’s Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau, Agence Française de Développement and the World Bank. The project is currently scheduled to reach financial close during next year, and is expected to be operational in 2025/2026.
Pre-qualification documents will be made available free of charge in a dedicated virtual data room. Interested applicants may request access to the VDR by email to: RuziziIII_EPC_Prequalification@ruzizienergy.com.
As part of the registration process, applicants will be required to sign a non-disclosure agreement prior to being granted access to the virtual data room. All queries should be sent to: RuziziIII_EPC_Prequalification@ruzizienergy.com.
For further information, contact:
Peter Rae
Email: peter.rae@ruzizienergy.com
Tel: +1 613 305 0733
