Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) has received final tender clarifications from shortlisted bidders for the contract to build the 1,300MW fifth captive power plant at its aluminium smelter facility.

The client received proposals from five bidders in April, and has narrowed down the prospective winners to two companies for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract, according to sources close to the project.

The two remaining bidders in the running for the contract are:

• GE (US)/Gama Power systems Engineering & Construction (Turkey)
• Siemens (Germany)

Having received final clarifications, the client is expected to award the EPC contract award by the Middle of August.

MEED reported in May 2015 that Alba would build a 1,300MW power plant as part of its plans for a sixth potline, which was granted long-awaited government approval in the first half of the year.

In April 2016, MEED reported that US-based engineering group Bechtel had been awarded the engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) contract on Alba’s sixth potline expansion, which will cost an estimated $3bn to build.

The US company will design and construct the sixth potline and support industrial services.

Bechtel had previously been awarded the EPCM contract on the previous fourth and fifth potline expansions.

The project will make Alba the world’s largest single-site aluminium smelter, boosting the site’s production capacity by 540,000 tonnes a year (t/y) to 1.5 million t/y. The smelter will overtake Emirates Global Aluminium’s (EGA) Abu Dhabi smelter as the largest in the Middle East.

Peak power demand growth for electricity in Bahrain reached 8.1 per cent in 2014 from 1.3 per cent in 2013. Bahrain’s Electricity & Water Authority (EWA) is predicting peak demand for electricity to increase by an annual average of 6.4 per cent a year until 2020.

In addition to Alba’s fifth captive power plant, Bahrain’s state utility is planning to develop additional 1,500MW power capacity through the planned Al-Dur 2 IWPP.