Shell, Edison, among companies short-listed for gas power station contract

Energy giant Shell, Italian company Edison and the Chinese state-owned CPECC are among the short listed bidders for a gas-fired power plant at Delimara. The announcement was made this afternoon by Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi at the end of an evaluation process that whittled down the field to 11 companies from the 19 that had responded to a call for expression of interest. Dr Mizzi said the eliminated companies were given a reason for the evaluation board's decision. A legal notice that will be published in the coming days will give the eliminated companies a chance to appeal. He said Enemalta will conduct a full environmental impact assessment of the project. This will be finished by September when the contract will be awarded. Asked whether the deadline for cutting electricity bills for families by March next year will be respected, Dr Mizzi said the process was "on track". He said the short-listing exercise was based on the technical capability and financial strength of the bidding companies. The chosen 11 are: Abener Energy, CPECC, DSME, Electrogas, Edison SPA, Endeavour Energy, GMR Energy, Shell Gas and Power, Soffimat Gestamp, Vitol and Yildirim. These companies will now be...