A consortium led by a wholly owned subsidiary of Tenaga Nasional Bhd beat several others including the likes of Powertek, YTL Power and Sime Darby to win Malaysia’s first open tender power plant, which is a 300mw coal- fired plant located in Lahad Datu, Sabah.
In an announcement yesterday, Tenaga said the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) in a letter on June 20 awarded the job to a consortium comprising TNB Repair and Maintenance Sdn Bhd (Remaco), Eden-Nova and Maser Group. Remaco’s interest in the consortium is 51% while Eden-Nova, a special purpose vehicle, has 35% and Maser has 14%.
The consortium’s interest in the power plant is only 80% while Yayasan Sabah will hold the remaining 20%. Tenaga said details regarding the project will be discussed among the consortium members and will be announced in due course.
Eden-Nova is a joint venture between Eden Enterprise (M) Bhd and Nova Nusantara Sdn Bhd. Eden already has a power plant in Sabah, a 64MW gas plant in Libaran. Nova Nusantara is said to be an engineering company. As for Maser, it is a company that has interest in oil and gas and the power sector.
The project is of significance because it marks the first power plant to be awarded on open tender basis in the country. Prior to that, the EPU awarded all power plant licences directly to well-connected individuals or companies. After the award, the licence holder entered into negotiations with Tenaga on the power purchasing terms.
Since Datuk Che Khalib Mohamed Noh took over the helm as CEO of Tenaga in mid-2004, one of his objectives was to push the federal government to award power plants on open tender basis.
Only in June 2006 did his push for open tender for power plants come to reality when tenders were called for the Lahad Datu plant. It has been reported that about 10 companies had taken the tender documents, including foreign names. But Remaco was one of the favourites.
– The Edge Daily – www.theedgedaily.com