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Two developer consortiums have submitted bids for the first phase of Kuwait’s Al-Khairan independent water and power producer (IWPP) project, according to a source.

Bids were received by the Kuwait Authority for Partnership Projects (Kapp) on 1 June.

The facility will have a capacity of 1,800MW and 150,000 cubic metres a day of desalinated water. It will be located in Al-Khairan, adjacent to the Al-Zour South thermal plant. 

The bidders include:

• Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa) / A H Al-Sagar & Brothers (Saudi Arabia) 
• Acwa (Saudi Arabia) / Gulf Investment Corporation (Kuwait)

The Al-Khairan IWPP is being procured by Kapp in partnership with the Ministry of Electricity, Water & Renewable Energy (MEWRE).

The main contract was tendered last September. Three consortiums and two individual companies were previously prequalified to participate in the tender.

Ernst & Young, BNP Paribas, AtkinsRealis and Addleshaw Goddard are financial advisers on the project. Chadbourne & Parke is acting as legal adviser.

The winning bidder will sign a set of public-private partnership agreements covering financing, design, construction, operation and transfer of the project. The energy conversion and water-purchase agreement is expected to cover a 25-year supply period.

Future phases

The Al-Khairan IWPP project is expected to run on low-sulphur fuel oil as the primary fuel and to accommodate crude oil, gas oil and natural gas as backup fuels. Future phases will further expand capacity.

It is understood that the estimated $750m second phase of the Al-Khairan IWPP project will add a further 1,800MW of generation capacity through a combined-cycle gas-fired power plant.

The project, first mooted over a decade ago, remains in the early development stages, with no plans currently to advance to procurement in 2026, a source said.

According to the source, the immediate focus is on advancing plans for the 3,600MW Nuwaiseeb power and water desalination IWPP project.

The Nuwaiseeb IWPP plant will have a desalination capacity of 75 million imperial gallons a day.

Kapp plans to release a transaction advisory tender for the project by the end of the year.

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