April 26, 2013

South Burnett businesses have been invited to look at contracting opportunities which may be opening at Stanwell’s Tarong power stations and Meandu mine.

Stanwell has begun a process aimed at consolidating the number of its suppliers which means existing contractors will have to re-apply.

They will also have to meet new safety standards.

The consolidation is a result of the restructure of Queensland’s government-owned generators in July 2011 with the merger of power stations from three separate companies into the Stanwell portfolio.

At the time of the merger, Stanwell provided a commitment to all suppliers that it would honour the terms and conditions of each contract.

“We have now reached the period where legacy contracts are expiring across our 11 geographically dispersed sites across the State,” Stanwell’s Manager of Supply Chain Vince Aisthorpe said.

“As Queensland’s largest energy provider, we will be exploring opportunities to achieve value-for-money through the consolidation of contracts, the reduction of administrative overheads, and through taking advantage of efficiencies where they exist across all Stanwell sites.

“The first step is the release of an open market Expression of Interest (EOI) for a large number of contracts worth tens of millions of dollars through the Queensland Government eTender system.

“Through this EOI we will be seeking feedback from our current, and potentially new, suppliers on the most appropriate way to establish new contracts in the areas of facilities management, asset maintenance and overhaul services.

“The wholesale energy market in which Stanwell competes is significantly over supplied. In fact the price we sell energy for is cheaper now than it was 10 years ago so it is essential that we get value for money out of every contract.”

Under the new strategy, suppliers will also be required to provide details of their safety performance and systems before they can tender for work at Tarong Power Station and Meandu Mine.

General Manager Generation Phil David said this was part of Stanwell’s commitment of having a Zero Harm culture at all of our sites.

“Contractors play a very important role at both sites by providing services ranging from catering and cleaning, to trades, technical services and engineers,” Mr David said.

“However, we are striving to achieve zero harm and it is vital that any person, employee, contractor or visitor who comes to the site understands our safety values and, more importantly, adheres to them.”

Stanwell plans to have its new supply arrangements in place by December 2013.