The Asian Development Bank (ADB) announced on Friday that the rebidding of the contract to supply Energy-Efficient Electric Vehicles to the government is slated for April.
ADB documents stated that the deadline for the submission of bids for the project is on April 14. A pre-bid conference has also been set on March 11.
The contract covers the supply and delivery of 3,000 units of electric tricycles (e-trikes). This is part of the ADB-funded Market Transformation through Introduction of Energy-Efficient Electric Vehicles (E-trike) Project.
“The government of the Philippines has received a loan from the Asian Development Bank toward the cost of Market Transformation through Introduction of E-trike Project, and it intends to apply part of the proceeds of this loan to payments under the contract for Package 1: Supply and Delivery of 3,000 units of e-trikes. This contract will be jointly financed by the Clean Technology Fund,” the ADB said.
The 3,000 units of e-trikes is intended for delivery to the National Capital Region and Regions 4A or Calabarzon, and 4B or Mimaropa. The delivery/completion period is six months with delivery of the initial 1,200 units within three months after contract signing.
An international competitive bidding will be conducted in accordance with ADB’s single-stage, two-envelope bidding procedure.
To qualify, bidders must meet financial requirements such as the minimum average annual turnover of $15 million. They must either be a supplier or manufacturer of lithium-ion battery packs with a minimum average turnover of $40 million.
The ADB also said the bidder’s financial resources must be equivalent to or greater than $3 million, whether in liquid assets or lines of credit issued by banks or financing institutions.
“In the case of joint venture, all partners combined shall meet the requirement: Each partner shall meet at least 10 percent of the requirement, and one partner must meet at least 40 percent of the requirement,” the ADB added.
The qualified bidders or their subcontractors, the ADB said, must also have at least five years of experience in lithium-ion battery manufacturing. They must also have supplied lithium-ion batteries to at least one global electric vehicle brand that has been operating successfully during the last two years.
The ADB added that these are just some of the qualifications that prospective bidders must meet to qualify for the bidding.
Documents also showed that interested bidders must make a P25,000 worth nonrefundable payment through Department of Energy’s cashier, direct deposit or bank transfer to the Land Bank of the Philippines.
The P504-million-worth project is financed by the ADB and the national government. The national government is spending $99 million in counterpart funding for the project.
The ADB extended a $300-million loan to finance the project. Apart from this, the project was also financed through a $100-million loan and a $5-million-worth grant from the ADB Clean Technology Fund.
The projects aims is to reduce the Philippines’ dependence on oil imports. ADB data stated that if the country targets only about 7 percent electric vehicle penetration by 2015 and 15 percent by 2030, the country can reduce fuel import by about 6 percent in 2015, 13 percent in 2020 and more than 40 percent by 2030.