Pre-qualification launched for Ruzizi III EPC contractor

Ruzizi III Energy invites pre-qualification bids by 15 February for the engineering, procurement, construction, testing and commissioning of the Ruzizi III regional hydropower project on the border of DRC and Rwanda. The RIII-EPC contract, which has an estimated total value of €450 million (excluding VAT), will in­clude the engineering, procurement, construction, testing and commissioning of a 45 m-high embankment dam.

The project will have 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; a 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.

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 contract which is planned to be in the second quarter of 2021 with work beginning in mid-2022.

The PPP project, on the Ruzizi river, which flows from Lake Kivu to Lake Tanganyika and which delineates the southern border of Rwanda and DRC, and also forms the border between DRC and Bur­undi, is being developed on a 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 Norway’s SN Power, on behalf of the Governments of Burundi, DRC and Rwanda. A 25-year concession agreement and PPAs were signed in July 2019 between the developer, the three Governments and the respective national utilities of the countries. The project will cost an estimated US$ 650-700 million, and concessional funding is to be provided by the African Develop­ment Bank, the European Investment Bank, the European Union, Kredit­anstalt für Wiederaufbau of Germany, Agence Française de Développement, and the World Bank. The project is currently scheduled to reach financial close later this year and is expected to be operational by 2025 or 2026.

Pre-qualification documents will be made available free of charge in a virtual data room. Interested applicants may request access to the VDR by applying to the Ruzizi III email address below. 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