Yesterday, a list of the bidders made available by the PPADB reveals that several multi-billion US dollar Asian groups with global reach are in the running to build Botswana's biggest Independent Power Producer (IPP) project.The list has two energy development groups from Japan, one from South Korea, another from Saudi Arabia, one from China and subsidiaries of Indian giants, including the current developers of the Mmamabula Energy Complex.Other bidders are from firms based in the United Kingdom, Australia and a possible South African consortium, as well as a joint venture between Tata Power of India and South African energy titan, Exxaro.On the list is Sumitomo Corporation, a 94-year-old Japanese group boasting a presence in 65 countries and assets of nearly eight trillion yen (P710 billion).
The other Japanese firm is Marubeni Corporation, whose Power Projects and Infrastructure Division has 50 years experience in the IPP arena.Marubeni Corporation boasts assets of about 5.7 trillion yen (P506 billion) and a net income for the full year ended March 2013 of 206 billion yen (P18.3 billion).Also on the PPADB'S list is Korea Electric Power Corporation, which is South Korea's largest electricity utility. Known as KEPCO, the group has total assets of US$133.2 billion (P1.2 trillion) and experience in power generation and plant management around the world.Another firm, Nava Bharat Singapore has a total global investment exceeding US$1 billion in various energy projects, including a 300MW coal fired project in Zambia.
