Key Morupule B contract stuck in limbo :: Mmegi Online

The Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) and the China National Electric Engineering Company (CNEEC) are yet to negotiate and conclude a long-term Operation and Maintenance (O&M) contract for the Morupule B power station, a development that could delay Batswana taking over the running of the plant.

Sources close to the project told Business Week that negotiations for the O&M contract were supposed to have begun when construction of the project commenced in 2010 but the power utility is yet to respond to a proposal submitted by the Chinese company.

After the construction contract, a substantive O&M agreement is supposed to be the next phase of the 600MW project, which will bind the Chinese company to operate the plant and transfer skills to BPC staff within the next two years. The proposed contract is also supposed to coincide with the Defect Notification Period clause in the first contract in which the Chinese company is obliged to provide remedial works and maintenance at no cost if the plant develops any fault within the first two years.

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