JOHANNESBURG (Dow Jones)--South Africa has invited expressions of interest for the construction and operation of a gas-fired power plant near Port Elizabeth that will provide up to 2,400 megawatts.

The Coega Development Corp., a state-owned organization developing the Coega industrial zone in the Eastern Cape province, Wednesday said interested bidders have until midday Feb. 1 to submit an application. A shortlist will then be drawn up and a preferred bidder selected in the final quarter of 2010, it said.
The project will be an opportunity for the emergence of an independent power producer in the country, something state power company Eskom Holdings Ltd. this week said it would encourage in order to help it to narrow a funding shortfall as it expands capacity to meet rising demand for electricity and avoid blackouts.
“At the end of the day we must have the most competitive bid that gets us the best price for power,” said Khwezi Tiya, executive manager of business development at the CDC.
“The outcomes must take cognizance of price both for the consumer and the operator and part of the work we have been doing is to ensure this is possible,” Kiya said.
The CDC said it expects construction to begin in early 2013.
Petroleum, Oil & Gas Corporation of South Africa in early October said it had signed a cooperation agreement with the CDC for a planned 400,000 barrel a day crude oil refinery at Coega, near the deep-water port of Ngqura. A technical feasibility study for the project has been completed and PetroSA said its board will decide by the end of the year to proceed to the next phase. The final investment decision is expected during 2011, it said.