Mr. Elbano Provenzali, Gerente de Ingenieria General, C.A. La Electricidad de Caracas, SACA, Edificio Norte, Piso 7, Avenida Vollmer -- San Bernardino, Caracas, Venezuela; tel. 011-582-502-2182 / fax 011-582-502-1028.

B -- VENEZUELA -- LA ELECTRICIDAD DE CARACAS EL SITIO COMBINED CYCLE POWER PLANT FEASIBILITY STUDY POC Evangela Kunene, USTDA, 1621 N. Kent Street, Suite 300, Arlington, VA 22209-2131. Tel: (703) 875-4357, Fax No.: (703) 875-4009. The grantee invites submission of qualifications and proposal data (collectively referred to as the "Proposal") from interested U.S. firms which are qualified on the basis of experience and capability to develop a feasibility study of the "El Sitio" Combined Cycle Power Plant in Venezuela. The plant will be located land at the Hacienda El Sitio, in the vicinity of the urban center Santa Luc=EDa, Paz Castillo municipality, State of Miranda. The site is about 40 kilometers south of Caracas, near the 230 kV transmission line Santa Teresa -- Convento and the Santa Luc=EDa -- Petare highway. A natural gas trunk pipeline is about 20 kilometers from this site. The project will be developed in six phases. Since there is abundant and cheap natural gas, the plant will be built first as simple cycle gas turbine generator units which require lower investment. At a later date when gas prices have increased, conversion to combined cycle will be made to take advantage of the waste heat and improve overall fuel use by increased cycle efficiency. The feasibility study will include a site visit and data collection; a review of the supply and demand for electricity to determine the need and timing for the plant; a conceptual design of the plant; preparation of capital and operating cost estimates; an assessment of risks and means to mitigate them; preparation of a report; preparation of technical specifications for the simple cycle phases of the plant development; and at TDA's option, participation in a briefing for potential US suppliers of goods and services for the project. All portions of the study should address the phased development plan for the project. The U.S. firm selected to perform the feasibility study will be paid in U.S. dollars from a grant of US $385,000 to the Grantee from the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (TDA). In addition, the Grantee has decided to fund a basic engineering study for the El Sitio Power Plant simultaneously with the TDA-funded feasibility study. Five Venezuelan firms have been short-listed by the Grantee for the basic engineering study. The Grantee would like to see a consortium arrangement established between the selected U.S. feasibility study firm and one of the Venezuelan firms short-listed for the basic engineering study, in order to ensure that there is a proper exchange of information and data between the two studies. Therefore, interested U.S. bidders should attempt (but are not required) to establish a partnership for this project with one of the short-listed Venezuelan engineering firms. A detailed Request for Proposals (RFP), which includes requirements for the Proposal, the Terms of Reference, information on the simultaneous basic engineering study and a background definitional mission/desk study report are available from TDA, at 1621 N. Kent Street, Suite 300, Arlington, VA 22209-2131. Requests for the RFP should be faxed to the IRC, TDA at 703-875-4009. In the fax, please include your firm's name, contact person, address, and telephone number. Some firms have found that RFP materials sent by U.S. mail do not reach them in time for preparation of an adequate response. Firms that want TDA to use an overnight delivery service should include the name of the delivery service and your firm's account number in the request for RFP. Firms that want to send a courier to TDA to retrieve the RFP should allow one hour after faxing the request to TDA before scheduling a pick-up. Please note that no telephone requests for the RFP will be honored. Please check your internal fax verification receipt. Because of the large number of RFP requests, TDA cannot respond to requests for fax verification. Requests for RFPs received before 4:00 PM will be mailed the same day. Requests received after 4:00 PM will be mailed the following day. Please check with your courier and/or mail room before calling TDA. Only U.S. firms and individuals may bid on this TDA financed activity. Interested firms, their subcontractors and employees of all participants must qualify under TDA's nationality requirements as of the due date for submission of qualifications and proposals and, if selected to carry out the TDA-financed activity, must continue to meet such requirements throughout the duration of the TDA-financed activity. All goods and services to be provided by the selected firm shall have their nationality, source and origin in the U.S. or host country. The U.S. firm may use subcontractors from the host country for up to 20 percent of the TDA grant amount. Details of TDA's nationality requirements and mandatory contract clauses are also included in the RFP. Interested U.S. firms should submit their Proposal in both Spanish and English (two copies of each) directly to the Grantee in Caracas by 4:00 PM local time, April 3, 1998 at the above address. Evaluation criteria for the Proposal are included in the RFP. Price will not be a factor in contractor selection, and therefore, cost proposals should NOT be submitted. The Grantee reserves the right to reject any and/or all Proposals. The Grantee also reserves the right to contract with the selected firm for subsequent work related to the project. The Grantee is not bound to pay for any costs associated with the preparation and submission of Proposals. (0043)

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