Tender process for the construction of an oil shale fired power plant in Jordan nearing its end

The tender process for the new power plant was announced in June of last year. Sixteen internationally renowned and respected construction and engineering companies expressed their interest in bidding. Based on detailed financial and technical evaluations, Enefit short-listed seven companies qualifying for bidding in the tender process. Final bids, due in April of this year, are expected from major construction companies in both Asia and Europe: Alstom/Daewoo E&C (France/South Korea), Hyundai E&C/LG Int. (South Korea), Samsung Engineering (South Korea), Samsung C&T (South Korea), Posco/Daewoo Int. (South Korea), China Machinery Engineering Corporation (China), and Guangdong Power (China).

According to Andres Anijalg, Managing Director for Enefit Jordan, the tender process has reached a crucial milestone. "Receiving bids for the tender process for the construction and design of the power plant in Jordan is an important stage in this development project. Our meeting with the companies bidding in the tender process left us feeling convinced that any final queries that the bidders may have had have now been clarified, and that all of the bids meet the required criteria as outlined in the tender documents."

The final results of the tender process will be announced in the second quarter of 2013, and the construction of the power plant is scheduled to launch in early 2014, once activities related to financing it have been completed. The capacity of the power plant to be constructed in Jordan will be 460 MW and it will be completed in 2017 under the current plans.

Mining tender bids were submitted this month for the Jordan Oil Shale Power Project from both international and local Jordan companies. The mining area of approximately 11 km2 is located in the Attarat um Ghudrun region and area is estimated to have sufficient oil shale resources to supply the power plant for an estimated 40 years. Jordan possesses one of the largest oil shale reserves in the world, with total reserves ranging between 40 to 70 billion tonnes."

Eesti Energia Group of Estonia has a 65% majority stake in the development project in Jordan through Enefit Jordan B.V.. Eesti Energia's strategic partner in the development project is one of Asia's leading energy companies, YTL Power International Berhad (YTLPI) of Malaysia, with a 30% stake. Local Jordanian partner, Near East Investment holds the remaining 5% stake in the project.

Enefit is an international trademark of Eesti Energia Group, representing the business operations of the Group in Jordan, the State of Utah in the United States, Latvia and Lithuania. Eesti Energia's projects abroad are financed from the sales revenues of Eesti Energia Oil and Gas, with the projects involving investors from abroad.