The Republic of South Africa. Department of Energy

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1 The Republic of South Africa Department of Energy EXPRESSION OF INTEREST IN RESPECT OF IDENTIFYING ONE OR MORE STRATEGIC PARTNER(S) FOR THE DEVELOPMENT, FINANCING, CONSTRUCTION, OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE OF ONE OR MORE SOLAR PARKS LOCATED IN THE NORTHERN CAPE PROVINCE

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Disclaimer Definitions and Interpretation 5 3. Background Purpose of the EOI Implementation of the Project Role of the State-Owned Company/ies Information to be provided by prospective Strategic Partners in their EOI Responses Format and Submission of EOI Responses Requests and Clarifications Amendment of the EOI Contact with the Project Officer 23 2

3 1. Disclaimer While all reasonable care has been taken in preparing this Document, the information contained in it does not purport to be comprehensive or to have been verified by the Department of Energy of the Government of the Republic of South Africa ("the Department") or any other department of the Government of the Republic of South Africa ("the Government"), any of its officers, employees, servants, agents, advisors or any other person. Accordingly, neither the Department nor any of its advisors accept any liability or responsibility for the adequacy, accuracy or completeness of any of the information or opinions stated herein. Save where expressly stipulated otherwise, no representation or warranty (whether express or implied) is or will be given by the Department or any of its officers, employees, servants, agents, advisors or any other person with respect to the information or opinions contained in this Document, or in relation to this Document. The Department reserves the right to amend, modify or withdraw this Document or any part of it, or to terminate or amend any of the procedures, procurement processes or requirements detailed in this Document at any time, without prior notice and without liability to compensate or reimburse any person pursuant to such amendment, modification, withdrawal or termination. The Department reserves the right to terminate or amend the procurement process and/or the Project, at any time, without prior notice and without liability to compensate or reimburse any person pursuant to such termination or amendment. The terms and conditions set out in this Document are stipulated for the express benefit of the Department and, save as expressly stated to the contrary, may be waived at the Department s sole discretion at any time. The Department reserves the right to adopt any proposal made by any person responding to this Document at any time and to include such proposal in any documents which may or may not be made available at any stage of the procurement of the Project to any other persons responding to this Document, without the obligation or liability to pay any compensation or reimbursement of any nature to any person pursuant to such adoption. This Document is provided solely for the purpose set out herein and is not intended to form any part or basis of any investment decisions by the prospective Strategic Partner, its shareholders, members or its lenders. Each person that accesses this Document 3

4 must make its own independent assessment of the Project in respect of which it intends submitting a EOI Response, taking such advice (whether professional or otherwise) as it deems necessary. The Department has engaged consultants in respect of the procurement of the Project and this Document, who are acting solely as advisors to the Department to assist the Department in the procurement of the Project and, accordingly, will not be responsible or owe a duty of care to any person other than the Department in respect of this Document. The Transaction Advisors shall not nor shall any legal advisor, or advisor to the Department in relation to the Project or this Document, provide any opinion to or for the benefit of any prospective Strategic Partner, shareholder, member, contractors, suppliers or any lender, in their capacity as advisor to the Department. No prospective Strategic Partner, its shareholders, members, contractors, suppliers or lenders shall have any claim against the Department, its officers, employees, servants, agents or Transaction Advisors, under any circumstances whatsoever, arising out of any matter relating to the Project or this Document of any nature whatsoever, including where such claim is based on any act or omission by the Department, or any of its officers, employees, servants, agents or Transactions Advisors of any nature whatsoever, or where such claim is based on the content of, or any omission from, this Document of any nature whatsoever. 4

5 2. Definitions and Interpretation In this Document, except as otherwise defined herein, the following terms shall have the following meanings: "Bid Response" - any bid submitted by a Strategic Partner in response to the invitation contained in the RFP; "Black Enterprise" - a legal entity with fifty point one per cent (50.1%) or more of its equity owned by Black People and participation in its board of directors controlled by Black People; "Black People" Africans, Coloureds and Indians, limited to those who are Citizens; "Citizen" people who have obtained citizenship of South Africa by birth, descent or naturalisation in terms of the South African Citizenship Act No. 88 of 1995; Commercial Operation Date - the date after which all testing and commissioning of the Power Generation Facility has been completed, provided that such date may not be before the scheduled Commercial Operation Date; "Determinations" - the First Determination, Second Determination, Third Determination and the Solar Parks Determination made or anticipated to be made by the Minister, in consultation with NERSA, pursuant to section 34 of the Electricity Regulation Act; 5

6 2.1.7 "Distribution System" - a distribution network of a Network Owner which operates at a nominal voltage of 132 kv or less; Electricity Regulation Act - the Electricity Regulation Act No. 4 of 2006; "Energy Output" - the electrical energy generated and expressed in MWh; EOI or the Document - this explanation and registration document for the identification of a Strategic Partner for the implementation of the Project; EOI Response - the prospective Strategic Partner s response to this EOI, together with all necessary supporting documentation and the letter referred to in paragraph 8.6 (Signing of the EOI Response); "First Determination" the determination made by the Minister on 1 August 2011, in consultation with NERSA, pursuant to section 34 of the Electricity Regulation Act, as amended by the Second Determination; "Grid Code" - any code in respect of electricity generation, dispatch, scheduling, communications, distribution or transmission, as applicable, as published by NERSA from time to time; "Implementation Agreement" - the implementation agreement to be entered into between the Project Company and the Department; 6

7 "IRP 2010" - the Integrated Resource Plan issued by the Minister of Energy under Notice No. 400 dated 6 May 2011 in Government Gazette 34263, pursuant to the Electricity Regulation Act; "Minister" - the Minister of the Department, from time to time; "National Youth Policy" - the draft national youth policy issued by the Presidency under notice 15 of 2015 date 12 January 2015 in Government Gazette 38393; "NERSA" - the National Energy Regulator of South Africa, established pursuant to Section 3 of the National Energy Regulator Act No. 40 of 2004; "Network Owner" - any legal entity responsible for distributing electricity through a Distribution System or the Transmission System; "Power Buyer" - Eskom Holdings SOC Limited, in its capacity as the single buyer of electrical energy; "Power Capacity" - the power generation capacity at any time and from time to time, expressed in MW to generate and provide Energy Output; Power Generation Facility - the power generation facility, using Solar Technology, located at the Project Sites and comprising all plant, machinery and equipment, all associated buildings, structures, roads that are not national, 7

8 provincial or municipal roads, and other appurtenances, and the necessary infrastructure to connect to the System; PPA - the power purchase agreement entered into between the Power Buyer and the Project Company; Project - the development, financing, construction, operation and maintenance of Power Generation Facilities, using Solar Technologies, located at the Project Sites; Project Company - the special purpose company that a Strategic Partner proposes using as the vehicle to undertake the Project; Project Sites - any of three sites in the proximity of De Aar, Springbok to Prieska or Upington on which the Power Generation Facilities are to be located; Project Officer - the person appointed by the Department as the project officer in respect of the Project; "REIPP Procurement Programme" - the procurement programme designed to procure the target of megawatts, to contribute towards socio-economic and environmentally sustainable growth, and to start and stimulate the Renewable Energy industry in South Africa; Renewable Energy - the harnessing of naturally occurring non-depletable sources of energy, including solar, wind, biomass, hydro, tidal wave, ocean current and 8

9 geothermal, to produce electricity, gaseous and liquid fuels, heat or a combination of these energy types; RFP - the request for proposals to be issued in respect of the procurement of the Project; RFQ - the request for qualification to be issued in respect of the procurement of the Project; Second Determination" the determination made by the Minister on 12 December 2012 in consultation with NERSA, pursuant to section 34 of the Electricity Regulation Act, published in Government Gazette dated 19 December 2012; "Shared Connection Works" - all equipment required to connect a Project to the System, where such equipment is for the joint use by more than one customer of the Network Owner; "Small IPP Procurement Programme" - the procurement programme designed to procure the target of 400MW generated from Renewable Energy sources and from projects which have minimum capacity of 1MW and a maximum capacity of 5MW; Solar Parks Determination" - the determination anticipated to be made by the Minister in consultation with NERSA, pursuant to section 34 of the Electricity Regulation Act, which will 9

10 provide for 1 500MW new generation capacity using the Solar Technologies and from the Project Sites located in the Northern Cape Province; Solar Technology - either solar photovoltaic or concentrated solar power, where either such technology may include energy storage solutions; State-Owned Company - a legal entity that is created by the Government in order to partake in commercial activities on the Government's behalf, where in the context of the Project, such entity may include any entity with a mandate to engage in the energy or financing sector; Strategic Partner - any entity or consortium that submits a Bid Response, which must be either a Project Company or a consortium of legal entities and may become shareholders (either themselves or through an intermediary entity) in a Project Company; System - the Transmission System or the Distribution System, as applicable; "Third Determination" - the determination made by the Minister on 18 August 2015 in consultation with NERSA, pursuant to section 34 of the Electricity Regulation Act, published in Government Gazette dated 18 August 2015; 10

11 Transaction Advisors - the firms advising the Department in respect of this EOI or the Project, in general; Transmission System - the national transmission system consisting of all lines and substation equipment which operate at a nominal voltage of above 132 (one hundred and thirty two) kv; and Youth - defined in the draft National Youth Policy as a Citizen aged between 15 and 35 years old. 3. Background 3.1 The Minister has indicated in the Determinations that new generation capacity is necessary to ensure the continued uninterrupted supply of electricity. The Minister initially determined, in the First Determination, that 3 725MW, to be generated from Renewable Energy sources, is required. Subsequently, in the Second Determination the Minister determined that a further MW, to be generated from Renewable Energy sources, is required. In the Third Determination, the Minister determined that a further MW, to be generated from Renewable Energy sources, is required. This is broadly in accordance with the capacity allocated to Renewable Energy generation in IRP The Government has developed, or is intending to develop in the future, various procurement processes in order to procure the Renewable Energy target required by South Africa, namely the REIPP Procurement Programme, the Small Projects IPP Procurement Programme and any other procurement programme as determined by the Minister from time to time. 3.3 The Minister now intends to issue a further determination, the Solar Parks Determination, for new Renewable Energy generation capacity from Solar Technologies which is needed to contribute towards energy security in the amount of 1 500MW which represents the capacity allocated to Solar PV, 11

12 under the heading New Build, for the years 2026 to 2028 in Table 3 of the IRP However, the date for commercial operation will be determined in accordance with 5.7 below. 3.4 Notwithstanding that the capacity allocation is in respect of solar photovoltaic technologies, it is the intention of the Minister in her new determination to broaden the allocation to include any other Solar Technology, including energy storage solutions. In addition, it is intended that the Project Sites will be located in the Northern Cape Province. 3.5 A secondary objective of the REIPP Procurement Programme, beyond contributing to energy security, is to enable the establishment of a Renewable Energy industry in South Africa, including component manufacturing. Based on recent research conducted by the IPP Office, in conjunction with the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Science and Technology s Technology Localisation Implementation Unit, it has been recognised that to-date greater levels of component manufacturing in South Africa can be achieved through targeted interventions. 3.6 The Department through the IPP Office is investigating the feasibility of developing one or more solar parks in the Northern Cape Province, each of which will have a capacity of 400 to 700 MWs, and each of which will have a primary focus on the industrialisation of the Northern Cape Province by the establishment of industries linked to the solar energy generation, in the Northern Cape Province. 3.7 Accordingly, through the Solar Parks Determination, the Department aims to use Government s various policy instruments to enable and to facilitate the targeted establishment of Solar Technology component manufacturing facilities in the Northern Cape Province and, in so doing, to create sustainable employment opportunities for the people of the Northern Cape Province, and in particular the Youth. 4. Purpose of the EOI 4.1 Through this EOI the Department intends to determine the private sector interest in being appointed as either the Strategic Partner or a partner to one or more State-Owned Company/ies to implement the Project. The role of the 12

13 Strategic Partner(s) will be to provide the necessary technical and financial support for the development and implementation of the Project, and to build capacity within and transfer skills to the State-Owned Company/ies. Such support may include, inter alia, assistance with the development of the associated grid infrastructure downstream of the Power Generation Facilities and the identification and establishment of Solar Technology component manufacturing opportunities for the supply of such components to the Projects and to third party projects. 5. Implementation of the Project 5.1 The Department is committed to designing and implementing one or more procurement process/es which comply with the requirements of, amongst other things, section 217 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 and the Public Finance Management Act, 1999 (Act No. 1 of 1999). 5.2 In designing appropriate procurement processes, the Department will have regard to relevant legislation which may provide for tendering processes, direct negotiation with one or more providers of potential solutions, or other procurement procedures. 5.3 In the design of the Department s procurement programme for the development of Solar Parks in the Northern Cape Province, the Department will rely on, amongst other things, the responses it receives in response to this EOI Response and through any further engagements with the respondents to this EOI, and with the market, in general. 5.4 The Project will sit alongside the other Renewable Energy procurement programmes, including the REIPP Procurement Programme and the Small IPP Procurement Programme. 5.5 The areas in which Project Sites can be situated are the areas of De Aar, Upington, Springbok and Prieska. 5.6 The Department will appoint one of more Strategic Partner(s) to partner with the State-Owned Company/ies to implement the Project. The scope of such implementation will include, inter alia: settling the identification of suitable Project Sites; 13

14 5.6.2 settling the land tenure arrangements; completing all permitting and authorisations to implement the Project on the Project Sites, which may, for sake of clarity, include such permits and authorisation required to connect the Project to the points of connection identified by the Network Owner(s); settling all agreements required to construct, finance, commission, operate and maintain the Power Generation Facility, generated using the Solar Technologies, for the term of the PPA; either contributing or secure the contribution of the required equity finance for the Project; assist with any due diligence that may be required by any equity investor into the Projects; ensuring that the equity interests of Black Enterprises and/or Black People includes participation by residents of the Northern Cape Province; ensuring that the construction of the Power Generation Facility is completed on-time and on-budget; and facilitating the establishment of Solar Technology component manufacturing facilities located at one or more suitable sites in the Northern Cape Province, where the initial anchor customer for such components will be the Power Generation Facility. 5.7 The timeframe for the achievement of Commercial Operation Date will be determined from the revised Integrated Resources Plan currently being finalised by the Department. This matter will be clarified in the RFQ. 5.8 It is well established that the grid infrastructure in the Northern Cape Province requires strengthening to connect, amongst other projects, the projects being procured under the Determinations. Eskom Holdings SOC Limited ( Eskom ), in its capacity as the national transmission company, is planning for such grid strengthening. However, Eskom has current funding constraints and thus the Strategic Partner, in consultation with the State-Owned Company/ies, will be 14

15 expected to propose funding solutions to finance the construction of the required grid infrastructure, for consideration by the Department. For the sake of clarity, all Shared Connection Works, if constructed by the private sector, will be transferred to the relevant Network Owner after commissioning. 5.9 It is currently anticipated that the procurement process for the appointment of the Strategic Partner to develop and implement the Project will be a two-stage process (i.e. a request for qualification followed by a request for proposal). If the Department elects to undertake the procurement process by way of a twostage process, then the RFQ will constitute the formal invitation to potential Strategic Partners to submit their detailed statements of competency for each member of its consortium. Following short-listing, the pre-qualified potential Strategic Partners will be invited to submit responses to a RFP. The Department is planning for the RFQ to be issued during October Pursuant to the issuance of the RFP, a pre-qualified Strategic Partner, in preparing its Bid Response (in response to the RFP), will be required to bid prices that will be paid by the Power Buyer. In addition, the Strategic Partner will be required to make commitments in respect of the establishment of component manufacturing plant at one or more locations (to be determined by the Strategic Partner, in consultation with the State-Owned Company/ies) in the Northern Cape Province It is currently anticipated that the successful Strategic Partner will be required to set up a Project Company in which the State-Owned Company/ies will take up a minority equity interest. The Project Company will enter into an Implementation Agreement and a PPA with the Department and the Power Buyer, respectively, together with the relevant direct agreements. These agreements will be issued with the RFP and will be considered to be nonnegotiable. In addition to the aforementioned agreements, it is anticipated that the suite of documents, depending upon the commercial structure of the Project, will include connection agreements with the relevant Network Owners The Department intends to use the information provided in response to this EOI in designing an appropriate procurement process. Accordingly, the Department urges every prospective Strategic Partner who anticipates submitting a Bid Response (in response to the RFP) to the procurement of the 15

16 Project to provide the Department with an EOI Response. The Department, in its sole discretion, anticipates engaging with some, but not all, prospective Strategic Partners who have submitted an EOI Response to discuss their Project with a view to seeking clarity in relation to information contained in the EOI Response. 6. Role of the State-Owned Company/ies 6.1 The Strategic Partner will partner with one or more State-Owned Company/ies to implement the Project. The State-Owned Company/ies will participate as a minority equity participant. 6.2 The key role players in the design and implementation of the procurement programme include the Minister, National Treasury, the Department, the Power Buyer, NERSA and the relevant Network Owners. 6.3 Eskom, in its capacity as the single buyer of electrical energy, will be the Power Buyer of Power Capacity and Energy Output delivered by the Project. Power will be despatched under the PPA in compliance with the Grid Code. 7. Information to be provided by prospective Strategic Partners in their EOI Responses 7.1 Any and all entities or organisations that may wish to submit a Bid Response (in response to the RFP) are requested to submit an EOI Response in terms of this Document. Submission of an EOI Response is, however, not compulsory. 7.2 The EOI Response submitted should include the information set out below including any supporting documentation in respect thereof. The hard and soft copy of the EOI Response referred to in paragraph 8.2 (Copies of the EOI Response) should include all necessary supporting documents. The information required is as follows: 7.3 Registration information for the Project Name of the prospective Strategic Partner, where the Strategic Partner may be made up of one or more related or unrelated legal entities in a consortium. Prospective Strategic Partners should note that there is no 16

17 contemplation that the Strategic Partner s consortium arrangements should be settled by the time of submitting its EOI Response The name and contact details of the person appointed to undertake all contact with the Project Officer regarding the Project Where the prospective Strategic Partner has identified its consortium member, in respect of such consortium members, the prospective Strategic Partner is required to: identify the members of the consortium and the contact person and contact details for each such member; identify the lead consortium member; identify where such member is a Black Enterprise or a Black Person; anticipated roles and responsibilities within the consortium of each member; and provide information on the status of discussions and any agreements in place between consortium members The prospective Strategic Partner is required to provide an indication of the percent of equity holding of each consortium member in the Project Company and the desired percentage holding by State-Owned Company/ies, highlight those members interests where a minimum equity participation may apply The prospective Strategic Partner is required to set out its indicative approach as to how it will partner with the State-Owned Company/ies in implementing the Project The prospective Strategic Partner is required to set out its indicative approach as to how it will address the technical and financial capabilities required to develop and implement the Project. Where consortium members have been identified, each such consortium member should demonstrate previous experience in implementing the power generation projects at a scale similar to that of the Project. Such capability 17

18 statements shall identify the project name, location, dates the work was performed, key milestone dates, partners in the project, the member s roles and responsibilities in the project, approximate capital expenditure of the work performed and operational expenditure of the project The prospective Strategic Partner is also required to provide a comprehensive response to each of the following questions: provide detail regarding its understanding of, and experience in, raising funding to develop similar solar park projects; provide the historical experience of developing similar solar park projects, including the ability to secure land use rights and obtain all necessary consents; provide the historical experience of developing solar parks; provide the historical experience of manufacturing solar technology equipment; provide a description of how it intends to undertake the development, operation and maintenance of the solar park; provide a description of the number of solar parks it could undertake simultaneously; and the size of the intended solar park(s); provide details on how its participation in the development of solar parks will benefit the Northern Cape Province; indicate how it will achieve industrialisation in the Northern Cape Province as a result of being awarded a solar park project to develop; provide details on how it intends to promote Youth development in the Northern Cape Province; indicate whether it will be using local products, sourced from the Northern Cape Province; how would the proposed solar parks and/or programme ensure/promote the Department's economic development 18

19 objectives, as set out in the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act, 2003 (Act No. 53 of 2003) and the codes promulgated thereunder; give an indicative tariff for a solar park, together with a break-down of how that tariff is calculated and the costs from which it would be derived; describe its view as to the intended roles of the consortium members in the development of a solar park and/or manufacturing facilities in the Northern Cape Province; what partnership options with energy industry players it would propose, and what roles it would propose to play in these; and give an indication of the technologies and systems that will be employed by its company to implement the project and whether these are available and/or manufactured within South Africa. 8. Format and Submission of EOI Responses 8.1 Submission of EOI Responses The EOI Response, must be submitted to the Department during office hours and by not later than the time and date of 17h00 on 20 June 2016, at the following address: The IPP Office EOI Response: Strategic Partner for the development, financing, construction, operation and maintenance of one or more Solar Parks located in the Northern Cape Province Block C, Eco 1 Office Park 339 Witch-Hazel Avenue Centurion South Africa EOI Responses reaching the Department later than the cut-off time and date specified above may, in the Department's sole discretion, be rejected without further consideration. 19

20 8.1.3 EOI Responses may be submitted prior to the cut-off time and date specified above, however only complete EOI Responses will receive attention from the Department All costs incurred by a prospective Strategic Partner in connection with this Document and the preparation of its EOI Responses shall be borne by the prospective Strategic Partner. 8.2 Copies of the EOI Response Each EOI Response is required to be delivered to the Department by way of: (two) hard copies of the entire EOI Response; and (one) soft copy of the entire EOI Response, and the documents contained therein must be in Microsoft Word format, version 2007 or later, save where the document cannot be accessed by Microsoft Word, in which event the document must be provided in a PDF format, or in Microsoft Excel format, version 2007 or later; and properly indexed, readable and capable of being opened. 8.3 Format of EOI Responses Prospective Strategic Partners are requested to complete the EOI Response and provide all the information required in this Document, including all necessary supporting documentation, and address each and every item in paragraph 7 (Information to be provided by prospective Strategic Partners in their EOI Responses) of this Document All pages should be numbered consecutively from beginning to end and there should be a detailed index to the entire EOI Response. 8.4 Language of the EOI Response The EOI Response and all documents forming part of it shall be in English. 20

21 8.4.2 Any printed literature submitted with a EOI Response may be in another language so long as it is accompanied by an English translation (made by an accredited translator) of the entire document For the purpose of interpretation of the EOI Response, the English translation provided shall govern All correspondence and any other documentation and oral communication exchanged between the prospective Strategic Partner and the Department shall be in English. 8.5 Identification and Sealing of the EOI Response The prospective Strategic Partner shall state as a reference on the top right hand corner of the cover page of the EOI Response EOI Response: Strategic Partner for the development, financing, construction, operation and maintenance of one or more Solar Parks located in the Northern Cape Province, as well as state its name, address, and the proposed name of the Strategic Partner The prospective Strategic Partner shall wrap or file each EOI Response (comprising 2 (two) hard copies and 1 (one) soft copy) separately but should provide all copies in one envelope or wrapping. 8.6 Signing of the EOI Response The prospective Strategic Partner shall be required to provide a signed letter confirming the accuracy and completeness of its EOI Response. 8.7 Further Information The Department reserves the right to seek additional information from any prospective Strategic Partner regarding its EOI Response, as it may, in its sole discretion, determine, whether such information has been requested under this Document or otherwise, and may require the prospective Strategic Partner to make oral presentations for clarification purposes or to present supplementary information, in respect of its EOI Response if so required by the Department. 21

22 8.7.2 Prospective Strategic Partners may, following the submission of its EOI Response for their Project, be requested to engage with the Department and / or other relevant government stakeholders, including the relevant municipalities, the Network Owners, the Department of Environmental Affairs and the Department of Water and Sanitation to discuss matters relevant to planning for the Project. Any meetings are likely to take place at the IPP Office, which is at the following address: The IPP Office Block D, Eco 1 Office Park 339 Witch-Hazel Avenue Centurion South Africa 9. Requests and clarifications Prospective Strategic Partners may request clarification on any item contained in this Document by not later than 7 (seven) days before the last date for the submission of EOI Responses specified in paragraph above. The Department and its Transaction Advisors will endeavour in good faith to respond to all reasonable written queries and requests for clarification raised by the prospective Strategic Partners. 10. Amendment of the EOI 10.1 The Department may, at its sole discretion, before the last date for submission specified in paragraph above, modify this EOI by issuing an addendum thereto. Prospective Strategic Partners should therefore visit the IPP website ( on a regular basis for possible amendments to this EOI The Department may extend the last date for submission of responses to allow potential prospective Strategic Partners further time to consider any amendment to this EOI and to amend their EOI Responses. 22

23 11. Contact with the Project Officer All queries and requests for clarification in respect of this Document must be addressed to the Project Officer at Oral requests and queries will not be entertained and will not receive a response. Each prospective Strategic Partner must give the name and contact details, of the person whom it appoints to undertake all contact with the Project Officer in its EOI Response, as provided for in paragraph 7 (Information to be provided by prospective Strategic Partners in their EOI Responses) above. After the submission of its EOI Response, a prospective Strategic Partner may only communicate with the Department through such person and the Department shall be entitled, at its sole discretion, to disregard any communication from a prospective Strategic Partner, that does not come from such contact person, and that does not go directly to the Project Officer. Once the prospective Strategic Partner has been issued with a unique project identification number for the Project this is to be used in all communications with the Department. 23