The public tender for the modernization and operation of the Coloane Waste Water Treatment Plant has received bids from seven different entities, the Environmental Protection Bureau (DSPA) has announced after the proposals’ opening ceremony.
According to the bureau, the proposals received range in cost between 1 billion patacas and 2.14 billion patacas.
The lower price proposal came from a consortium headed by the company Zhu Kuan – Fomento Imobiliário, Limitada (MOP999,750,379.37), while the higher one came from Nam Kwong – Suez-Bewg JV (MOP2,139,551,815.99). The average price of the seven bids is MOP1.38 billion.
The bidding companies are seeking an eight-year contract in which the tender winner must provide operation and maintenance services for the Coloane Plant as well as carry out the first phase of modernization and remodeling within a maximum of 84 months (seven years).
Of the seven bidders, only two (the consortium led by Companhia de Desenvolvimento de Tecnologias Greenfort Lda., and the consortium formed by the WATERLEAU and Empresa de Construção e Fomento Predial Nam Fong, Limitada) have presented a conclusion time for the modernization work fewer than the maximum of 84 months, with both proposing completion in 83 months.
The modernization works will link this plant to a new facility to be built on the site to which deeply treated wastewater will be sent to produce recycled water, as the government has previously announced.
As the Times reported, the project for the construction of the Recycled Water Treatment Plant was discussed at an Urban Planning Committee (CPU) meeting in late April this year.
The new project will occupy a 2,930 square-meter area in a land plot beside the Waste Water Plant that in the past has been at the center of turmoil as the Secretary for Security, Wong Sio Chak, announced the government’s intention to use it as a storage facility for hazardous materials and products.
After inhabitants of residential developments in the area protested this decision, the government suspended the project and has recently proposed a new purpose for the plot.
Although the CPU has given the green light to the urban conditions plan for the construction, it is not yet clear when construction will begin, nor when it is expected to be ready to use.
According to the Waste Water Plant tender information, and considering the tender winner will have seven years to adapt and prepare the plant for the later forwarding of the water to the recycling plant, this is not expected to happen anytime sooner than 2030.
