VRA accused of “skewing” Takoradi gas turbine construction bid

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Pozo 10 years ago

Believe me the best performing machines in Ghana are the Frame 9Es and VRA possesses the best labor force for this. Better to standardise so that spares are easily acquired especially because of the LTSA being used by VRA. It ...
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Believe me the best performing machines in Ghana are the Frame 9Es and VRA possesses the best labor force for this. Better to standardise so that spares are easily acquired especially because of the LTSA being used by VRA. Its so easy to make the headlines!! Go and ask how many months the aeroderivatives from russia (T3) lasted.
OWEN, NEW YORK 10 years ago

Please , no bribe this time.

Please , no bribe this time.
Adisu Yenam 10 years ago

I think the complainant is ignorant about the power industry. Sheer ignorance!!!!!

GE turbines, especially the frame 6Bs and 9Es, are the most tried and tested, very robust machines around the world.

Anybody can do a we ...
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I think the complainant is ignorant about the power industry. Sheer ignorance!!!!!

GE turbines, especially the frame 6Bs and 9Es, are the most tried and tested, very robust machines around the world.

Anybody can do a web search on gas turbines that are widely used around the world in power plants and they will find out which brand stands out.

As Pozo has indicated, let the complainant go and find out what is the state of the turbines from Ukraine used for T3 and he'll be shocked.

VRA has learnt its lesson the hard way. All turbines working in the country are GE machines, and even the Asogli turbines are derivatives of GE machines.

People should rather delve into the power industry to know which machines are the best rather than make unwarranted noises.

VRA has rather done well by opting for the GE frame 9E. It'll go a long way to save the nation millions of money.

Let's put our nation first, rather than what we could get for ourselves. What brand of gas turbine is the complainant fronting? If the complainant knows a lot about the power industry, he should rather praise VRA for that choice!

God bless our nation Ghana!
Nemi Kwesi Nemi 10 years ago

To avoid the appearance of "sole-sourcing" the specs should have a elaborated on the required features and closed it with the GE make "or any other equal".

I really do not think GE will directly bid on this project. Contra ...
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To avoid the appearance of "sole-sourcing" the specs should have a elaborated on the required features and closed it with the GE make "or any other equal".

I really do not think GE will directly bid on this project. Contractors may be using the GE product only with perhaps GE providing design and project submittals only.
samo jewellery 10 years ago

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DAN 10 years ago

plated copper ?

plated copper ?
Dr, Fianko 10 years ago

The gentleman has to understand the terms of the contract. The client has the right in specifying the details of the contract unless it is a turn-key performance contract. It is up to him to go look for dual Fuel GE 9E to mee ...
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The gentleman has to understand the terms of the contract. The client has the right in specifying the details of the contract unless it is a turn-key performance contract. It is up to him to go look for dual Fuel GE 9E to meet the requirement indicated. It is not up to him to define value for money. Lowest cost does not mean necessarily highest value.
ghanaba 10 years ago

Go and check the effect the T3 had when firing. VRA is doing well going for GE Frame 9 as it is tried and tested machine.

Go and check the effect the T3 had when firing. VRA is doing well going for GE Frame 9 as it is tried and tested machine.
Hammer 10 years ago

There is nothing wrong with the spec given it is common and in fact standard practice.GH is in danger of being held captive by a few ignorant baboons.

There is nothing wrong with the spec given it is common and in fact standard practice.GH is in danger of being held captive by a few ignorant baboons.
kk 10 years ago

Please, what know abt gas turbine? make mouth shut

Please, what know abt gas turbine? make mouth shut
Ben 10 years ago

we need value for money to bring tariff prices down.

we need value for money to bring tariff prices down.
Kwame 10 years ago

It is sad how ignorance is killing Ghana by the domination of our media and airwaves by people who are ill-informed. Does the complainant know that the dominant fleet for power generation in Ghana are tri-fuelled GE machines

It is sad how ignorance is killing Ghana by the domination of our media and airwaves by people who are ill-informed. Does the complainant know that the dominant fleet for power generation in Ghana are tri-fuelled GE machines
DAN 10 years ago

from generators to locomotives..In fact of the 15 bids for Nigeria Power some where connected to Seimens as operators not just equipment supplier GE. GE also finances airplanes and trucks!

from generators to locomotives..In fact of the 15 bids for Nigeria Power some where connected to Seimens as operators not just equipment supplier GE. GE also finances airplanes and trucks!
DAN 10 years ago

if not then they can still be competition between electrical supplyers/contractors...In usa 1 brand of petro will no be same price in every area of the city...its what the market will bear tho they will say the length of tran ...
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if not then they can still be competition between electrical supplyers/contractors...In usa 1 brand of petro will no be same price in every area of the city...its what the market will bear tho they will say the length of transport from the tanks..Even Chicken prices from Kfc arent the same price in every country..Yes it would be best to also ask that Seimens generator sets be allowed in the bid
YALIMA 10 years ago

Grandfada can go build gas turbines using asbesto sheets or aluminium for his own use but not the Takoradi gas turbine that the VRA is constructing for Ghanaians.Please come again Mr Ignorant.

Grandfada can go build gas turbines using asbesto sheets or aluminium for his own use but not the Takoradi gas turbine that the VRA is constructing for Ghanaians.Please come again Mr Ignorant.
Fosua 10 years ago

I really do not know what the gentleman's problem is. Is he sure he is rather not trying to influence the bidding process? The employer (VRA) has specified GE 9E and so whoever can supply GE 9E should bid. I doubt whether GE ...
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I really do not know what the gentleman's problem is. Is he sure he is rather not trying to influence the bidding process? The employer (VRA) has specified GE 9E and so whoever can supply GE 9E should bid. I doubt whether GE would bid. I think its good VRA is going for GE frame 9 because that has proven to be reliable. Again, for economic maintenance it is good to standardize. so thumbs up for VRA. the GE frame 9s are the way to go. no more oanda machines.
Adisu Yenam 10 years ago

Is it sheer ignorance or naked greed that has made Granfada make such loud noises???!!!!!

GE turbines, especially the frame 6Bs and 9Es, are the most tried and tested, very robust machines around the world.

Anybody can ...
read full comment

Is it sheer ignorance or naked greed that has made Granfada make such loud noises???!!!!!

GE turbines, especially the frame 6Bs and 9Es, are the most tried and tested, very robust machines around the world.

Anybody can do a web search on gas turbines that are widely used around the world in power plants and they will find out which brand stands out.

As Pozo has indicated, let the complainant go and find out what is the state of the turbines from Ukraine used for T3 and he'll be shocked.

VRA has learnt its lesson the hard way. All turbines working in the country are GE machines, and even the Asogli turbines are derivatives of GE machines.

People should rather delve into the power industry to know which machines are the best rather than make unwarranted noises.

VRA has rather done well by opting for the GE frame 9E. It'll go a long way to save the nation millions of money.

Let's put our nation first, rather than what we could get for ourselves. What brand of gas turbine is the complainant fronting? If the complainant knows a lot about the power industry, he should rather praise VRA for that choice!

God bless our nation Ghana!
Dadwen 10 years ago

Nobody anywhere in the world could go wrong with GE gas-fired turbine generators…period. That is as good as they come. But somebody at VRA made a big booboo. In a lot of cases, spec writers for big companies like VRA know e ...
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Nobody anywhere in the world could go wrong with GE gas-fired turbine generators…period. That is as good as they come. But somebody at VRA made a big booboo. In a lot of cases, spec writers for big companies like VRA know exactly what equipment their organization is looking for and in order not to reinvent the wheel and also to save time and money may choose to just copy the preferred vendor’s specification, with minor modifications and make it as part of the bid package. But yes…it was prejudicial to other vendors for VRA to be so specific about a specific model of a specific company: “The new plant will consist of one dual fuel GE 9E gas turbine…” part of the tender package spec should have been deleted, but that is beside the point. The rest of the spec was slanted toward GE equipment so they could have deleted that part and could still choose GE during the bid evaluation process because the rest of the specification is tailored to GE equipment. The operation of a particular product having identical specification from different manufacturers can never be the same not to mention "The mean time between failures." NEVER. VRA is nobody’s bozo and are not going to comprise quality for cheap products that will end up costing us more money than if we had bought a good one in the first place. In such big capital-intensive project, you get what you pay for. Look around you…going for the cheap has given us a lot of substandard equipment and construction. And don’t forget…VRA is not a young company and have been around long enough to have a nose through their years of experience and also in collaboration with other utility companies around the globe to know what products will give us the best value for our dollars, which we don’t have much of these days by the way. Yes, there might be competitive bidders like Siemens and Japan’s Marubeni who make equally good products but VRA might have very valid and compelling reasons for going for GE. We just don’t know. In all likelihood, some of the existing equipment at Takoradi power plant might be GE’s which means three things:

1. VRA may already have GE spare parts sitting on their warehouse shelves and will not therefore have to order too much spare parts with this new purchase. That will be a big saving.

2. Having existing GE systems implies their maintenance staff are already conversant with GE equipment saving us precious money in retraining.

3. And oh yes…tech support after a plant is up and running is not the same across the board. Some companies will always be there when you needed them. Others will just leave you hanging dry if you needed help down the road.
May be, we should just give VRA the benefit of the doubt in this case.

VRA accused of “skewing” Takoradi gas turbine construction bid

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