On July 15, 2021, the mining-energy planning unit (“UPME” as per its acronym in Spanish) released the first amendment to the investor selection documents (the “ISD” as per its acronym in Spanish) related to the Public Bidding UPME GN 001 – 2022 (the “Bidding Process“), which purpose is the selection of an investor for the provision of the LNG storage, regasification, natural gas transportation and associated services of the Pacific gas import infrastructure (the “Project“).
The following are the main aspects contained in the ISD that the bidders (the “Bidders“[1]) shall consider in order to participate in the Bidding Process:
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Project description |
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| Object | Provision of LNG storage, regasification and natural gas transportation services and associated services of the Pacific gas import infrastructure. |
| Related works | 1. Regasification plant with a gross storage capacity of 200,000 m3 of LNG; and
2. Buenaventura – Yumbo gas pipeline with a transportation capacity of 400 MCPD of natural gas. |
| Commissioning Date | Fifty-eight (58) months from the selection of the Bidder of the Project. |
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Requirements for Bidders |
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| Stakeholders who cannot participate | The following entities are not eligible to participate in the Bidding Process:
1. Producers-commercializers of natural gas or commercializers of imported natural gas in the wholesale natural gas market; 2. Legal entities with any participation in producers- commercializers of natural gas or commercializers of imported natural gas in the wholesale natural gas market; and 3. Legal entities that in their company have any participation in producers-commercializers or traders of imported natural gas in the wholesale natural gas market. |
| Bidders Participation | For the registration and subsequent submission of proposals, the potential Bidders shall send an email to convocatoriasgasnatural@upme.gov.co, in order to obtain a username and password to access the platform through which the Bidding Process will take place. |
It shall be noted that, in order to participate in the Bidding Process, Bidders must submit envelopes No.1[2] and No.2[3] in accordance with the provisions of section 6 of the ISD as follows:
|
Documents in Envelope No. 1 (Technical Proposal) |
|
| Document |
Details |
| Letter of introduction | According to Form No. 1 and signed by the Bidder’s legal representative. |
| Guarantee of reliability | Issued by a first category financial institution according to Form No. 2. |
| Corporate Documents | For legal entities (foreign or national) or collaboration agreements (consortium), the following documents must be provided in general terms: (i) documents proving the existence and legal representation of the Bidder; (ii) authorization from the competent body to submit envelopes No. 1 and No. 2 of the Bidding Process; and (iii) in the event of not being a public utility company, a promise of incorporation or transformation in accordance with Form No. 4. |
| Certificate of shareholding | If applicable, certification indicating the shareholder composition of the Bidder. |
| Powers of attorney granted by the members designating the legal representative | Only for consortium Bidders. |
| Affidavit of the Bidder’s Legal Representative | According to ISD Form No. 3. |
| Irrevocable commitment of financial entity to constitute the Performance Guarantee | Only for the successful Bidder and in accordance with ISD Form No. 5. |
| Irrevocable fiduciary commitment to be entered into with the Bidder | Only for the successful Bidder and in accordance with the terms of ISD Form No. 6. |
| Form No. 8 | In which the Bidder expresses its commitment to hire a consultant to develop the quality plan in accordance with the requirements described in Annex 2 of the ISD. |
| Project presentation document | This document must contain an explanation of the Project from the technical point of view regarding the execution of the construction and operation of the Project. |
| Detailed Project Schedule | S-curve milestone dates. |
| Annex No. 8 | Document containing the S-curve milestones and corresponding deadlines. |
| Form No. 7 | In which the Bidder lists the documents that accredit its experience, of its members and corresponding certifications through other projects. |
| Form No. 9 | Statement that the Bidder established contact with TGI and it is aware of the characteristics of the connection point. |
|
Documents of Envelope No. 2 (Financial Proposal) |
|
|
Document |
Comments |
| IAEO Value Statement | This declaration must comply with the following requirements: (i) the value must be declared in Colombian pesos, as of December 31 of the immediately preceding year; (ii) the value must be presented in the platform provided by the UPME under the terms of Form No. 11; and (iii) the Bidder must list all costs, expenses, utilities, payment profiles and other economic characteristics of the Project. |
| Breakdown of different values of the Project | According to the Project components. |
Once the proposals have been submitted through the technological platform, UPME will verify compliance with the content of envelopes No. 1 and No. 2.
In general terms, it should be considered that, within the Bidding Process, a public hearing will be held to determine whether the Bidders proposals are economically admissible or not; the Bidder that has submitted the lowest bid value according to the contents of envelope No. 2 will be designated as the successful Bidder.
However, once the Project has been awarded, the closing act will be executed, and the successful Bidder acquires all the obligations of the Project. Along these lines, the Bidder awarded the Project must provide, within fifteen (15) days following the closing act, the following documents:
Documents for the Officialization of the IAE
- Valid Trust Agreement
- Valid Audit Agreement
- S-Curve and Schedule of the construction phase of the Project and the Investor’s delivery report to the Auditor.
- Copy of the Trust’s approval of the Performance Bond.
- Copy of the certificate of the Corporate Documents contained in envelope No. 1.
Schedule
The schedule for the Bidding Process will be subject to the following dates under the terms of the ISD:
| Schedule | |
| Event | Date |
| Pre-publication of ISD | June 16, 2022 |
| Registration of interested parties | June 16, 2022 to August 5, 2022 |
| ISD consultation deadline | June 30, 2022 |
| Deadline for clarifications and publication of ISD’s | July 15, 2022 |
| Deadline for ISD consultations | August 5, 2022 |
| Deadline for clarifications and publication of the final version of the ISD | August 17, 2022 |
| Request for username and password to access the technological platform. | August 18, 2022 to November 15, 2022 |
| UPME´s platform training | To be determined |
| Reception of Proposals envelopes No. 1 and No. 2 (from 08:00 to 17:00) | To be determined |
| Notification of evaluation of the Technical Proposal (envelope No. 1) | To be determined |
| CREG registry of the maximum award value | To be determined |
| Public Hearing for the opening of envelope No. 2 | To be determined |
| Public Award Hearing | To be determined |
| Closing Act | To be determined |
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[1] According to the ISD, it refers to the legal entity, consortium or branch of a foreign company that submits a proposal within the Bidding, prior compliance with the provisions of the applicable resolutions and in accordance with the terms of the ISD.
[2] According to the ISD it refers to the set of electronic and/or physical documents specified in paragraph 6.1 of the ISD to be submitted by the Bidder and that is part of the technical proposal of the Bidding Process.
[3] According to the ISD it refers to the set of electronic documents specified in paragraph 6.2 of the ISD to be submitted by the Bidder and that is part of the economic proposal of the Bidding Process.