Through External Circular No. 076 of 2022, published on September 6, 2022, the Mining and Energy Planning Bureau (“UPME” as per its acronym in Spanish) published the final version of the investor selection documents of the public call UPME GN 001 – 2022 through which will be carrying out the selection of an investor for the provision of LNG storage, re-gasification, natural gas transportation and associated services of the Pacific Gas Infrastructure (the “Public Bid”).
Accordingly, the following are some of the most important provisions outlined in the Investor Selection Documents (“DSI” as per its acronym in Spanish).
Purpose and general information
The purpose of the Public Bid is to select an investor to provide LNG storage, re-gasification, and natural gas transportation services and associated services for the Pacific Gas Import Infrastructure.
The Pacific Gas import infrastructure consists of a re-gasification plant with a gross storage capacity of 200,000 m3 of LNG, and the Buenaventura – Yumbo gas pipeline with an NG transport capacity of 400 million daily cubic feet (MPCD), which will be interconnected with the National Transportation System.
How will the Public Bid be carried out?
UPME will first select the bidder that, complying with all the requirements and technical demands set forth in the DSI, has submitted the proposal to undertake the project in its entirety and has submitted the lowest bid value.
Only proposals whose bid value is less than or equal to the maximum award value, as per the terms of Resolution CREG 102-008 of 2022, or those that modify, add, or replace it, shall be valid.
Once the above has been verified, and because of being awarded the Public Bidding, the investor will be entitled to have the CREG, by means of a resolution, officialize the expected annual income (“IAE” as per its acronym in Spanish).
Stages of the Public Bid
For the Public Bid, the ordinary process (without counteroffer)* will be carried out, the stages of which are as follows:
The stages, from September of 2022 are the following:
- Publication of the value of the sole admissible proposal, on March 31, 2023.
- Reception of counteroffers and public hearing, on April 11, 2023.
- Deadline for notification of the evaluation report on envelope no. 1 of the counteroffers, April 26, 2023.
- Continuation of public hearing for reading of envelope no. 2, on May 3, 2023.
- Continuation of the public hearing and signing of the award minutes on May 8, 2023
*If there is only one bidder with an admissible proposal, the process will be that of counteroffer.
Who can participate?
The persons who may participate and submit a proposal in the selection process are (i) legal entities located in Colombia or abroad, (ii) national or foreign consortiums, or (iii) foreign companies with a branch in Colombia.
Bidders may submit individually or as members of a Consortium without the need to form a company, or a new company in the case of legal entities.
What are the requirements?
- The faculties granted to the Legal Representative must be sufficiently broad so that he/she can bind on behalf of the Bidder.
- In order to submit proposals, all bidders must carry out their “own studies”, which may include research, examinations, visits, among others.
- All documents submitted by bidders must be issued within a period not exceeding 1 month (issued in Colombia); or 3 months (issued abroad, with the fulfillment of legal requirements) prior to the submission of the bid.
- The bidder cannot submit a proposal in which it establishes any conditions, or else it will be rejected.
Grounds for rejection of Proposals
There shall be express grounds for rejection of the Proposals when:
- A conditional Proposal is submitted;
- The Proposal does not comply with any of the requirements set forth in the DSI,
- It is a Proposer mentioned in paragraph 5.2 of the DSI (who cannot submit an offer).