Survey contract awarded for redevelopment of Moco Moco hydropower station

A contract for consultancy services to conduct a geotechnical survey for the redevelopment of the Moco Moco Hydropower Station was among three that were recently noted by Cabinet.

Minister of State Joseph Harmon told a post-Cabinet press briefing on Thursday that the €133,350 contract was awarded to BRGM.

Minister of Public Infrastructure David Patterson had said in 2016 that the rehabilitation of the hydropower station should be completed by the end of 2018.

Patterson had said back then that US$2 million in grant funding from the Inter-American Development Bank and GIZ was secured prior to him taking office.

At the project’s completion, the hydropower facility is supposed to be able to generate 0.75 MW of power, Patterson said. The previous installed capacity of the facility was 500 kW.

The hydropower facility at Moco Moco was damaged by a landslide in 2003 and was never fixed. It has since been severely vandalised. The Chinese-funded hydropower plant was commissioned on November 22, 1999.

Harmon said too that a US$100,000 contract for the provision of consultancy services for a pre-feasibility study for the upgrade of the Lethem aerodrome to a regional airport has been awarded to GSDPlus.

Additionally, he reported that a US$156,000 contract has been awarded to Patrick Anthony Farnum under the Ministry of Finance for consultancy services for a Management Information System upgrade and transformation into Integrated Financial Management Information System.