17.02.2017

Updating the general conditions of Madagascar’s energy industry

With two projects in 2016, GAUFF Engineering successfully launched its operations in Madagascar. In April, GAUFF was commissioned to advise the Madagascar Ministry of Energy and Hydrocarbon (MEH) and the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), providing technical assistance for the evaluation of quotations for the construction of four hydroelectric power plants.

In 2015, the MEH invited to submit tenders for the development and construction of hydroelectric power plants in Sahofika, Antetezambato, Ambodiroka and Volobe in a limited international tender process. It is planned to either build the individual power plants in a Public Private Partnership (PPP) or based on an EPCM contract (Engineering, Procurement, Contract Management). The tender documents allowed the suppliers to offer a multitude of options and variations, which made evaluating them quite difficult. Teaming up with GAUFF Engineering brought the expertise and experience as well as the technical and economic know-how required to assess the quotations into play. Within a month, GAUFF completed the evaluation of the documents and submitted a final report. On this basis, the MEH was able to initiate contract negotiations with the eligible tenderers. Meanwhile, the first PPP contracts for two of the four power plants have been signed in Paris.

In the second, ongoing Madagascan project, GAUFF provides technical and legal support in revising the law No. 98-032, which regulates Madagascar’s electricity sector. The electricity regulation authority and the GIZ are the principals of this project. The law is revised so that renewable energy projects can be implemented faster and more efficiently in the future and to create security of investment for energy projects.

GAUFF will analyse the local electricity sector and assist in the legislative process to develop the new version step by step in four workshops. By mid-2017, the revised new version of the legal text No. 98-032 will be finished and act as the legal basis for developing a more sustainable and modern energy supply in Madagascar.