Azurest Cambridge faces major hurdle

It will be known on Thursday if the consortium Azurest Cambridge will remain the preferred bidder for the construction of  a 360 megawatt power plant in Jamaica. October 3 is the deadline for the US based entity to inform the Office of  Utilities Regulation (OUR) if  it can pay the security bond to construct the US$690 million facility.
     
RJR News  tried unsuccessfully to contact Kenneth Allen, Managing Director of  Azurest Partners, to ascertain if  the consortium is on track to meet the requirement.

Meanwhile, the OUR has declared that the deadline is still on: "Azurest Cambridge is now required to provide the OUR with its best security representing one percent of the total investment cost of the proposed project by  October 3, 2013 - should they fail to post this bond, the OUR  will proceed to offer the opportunity to provide electricity it to the next ranked entity," said Yvonne Nicholson, OUR's Director of  Consumer and Public Affairs, in an interview with RJR News.
     
If  Azurest Cambridge fails to come up with the  bond, Hong Kong-based Energy World International is next in line to become the preferred bidder.

In the meantime, the Consumer Advisory Committee on Utilities, is concerned that Azurest Cambridge might be struggling to meet the requirements of  the multi-billion dollar energy project. In addition to the bid bond, Yasmin Chong,Chairman of  the Committee says there are other areas of  concern, such as "the financial capacity and the technical capacity. We are also very concerned about the fuel source. Meaning that the country and consumers are expecting a fuel that will not only meet the object yes,but will also   lower cost of electricity for consumers. We are not confident that their fuel source out of the US will be available when they say the plant will be available."

Independent consultants, Mott McDonald, had concluded that the natural gas proposal from Azurest Cambridge was the most financially advantageous of  the bids received. It reported, however,  that while the consortium achieved a high score in the technical evaluation, it failed to meet the required minimum 75-percent score on the ability to implement.