Yes, Bestie, winning the Saipan tender is really a superb achievement for Kuth. It is several feathers in David McDonald's cap. It helps to establish a professional pipeline of staged projects for the company. The present power production on Saipan in the range 30 - 45 MW is very respectable and, the present diesel fuel prices, will be exorbitantly expensive. This guarantees significant revenues for Kuth. Furthermore, it could be expected that with a reduction in power price to the locals, that the demand for power could increase. Volcanic geothermal would form base load while existing diesel plant becomes backup. Being able to get a foot in the door for the main island will likely also produce the benefits of access to other islands in the chain. Saipan's population is 55 000 but the other islands are very much smaller.
The situation with Vanuatu is somewhat similar although very much smaller in scale, and there are no offers of bonus grants. Economies in contracts may be attainable by combining the projects in tandem. Having several projects in hand also allows efficient employment of higher level staff.
At the AGM in November, David sounded much more confident in his presentation than previously and that was mostly on the good progress made with Vanuatu.
Various reports exist on the geothermal potential of Pacific islands but they did not include Saipan. This announcement is a very pleasant surprise to me.
Juke
KEN Price at posting:
3.8¢ Sentiment: LT Buy Disclosure: Not Held
