Bahrain’s Electricity and Water Authority (EWA) is evaluating bids from five companies for the contract to create a 15-year masterplan for Bahrain’s power and water sectors.

The masterplan will cover Bahrain’s power and water sector from 2015 to 2030 and will provide a forecast for power and water demand. From this, recommendations will be made for capacity additions to meet demand over the period.

The lowest price, BD860,000 ($2.3m), was submitted by Belgium’s Tractebel Engineering. The other bidders and prices are:

• SNC Lavalin (Canada) BD988,000
• ESBI Engineering (Ireland) BD1.2m
• Fichtner (Germany) BD1.3m
• Mott Macdonald (UK) BD1.8m

The tender is the latest of several projects Bahrain is investing in to increase its future power capacity. In early August, it awarded a BD9.8m contract to the US’ Petra Solar to provide and install 5MW of solar grid modules for a housing development for the Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco). This is the biggest solar contract to have been awarded in Bahrain to date.

In February, EWA selected Fichtner to advise on a pilot renewable energy power plant in the kingdom. The German firm will conduct a feasibility and assessment study for renewable energy technology in Bahrain. It will also advise on the design, tender and project management for the pilot scheme.

The project is expected to take the form of a hybrid solar and wind pilot facility for practical research and development. A committee to study renewable energy in Bahrain was established in 2005 with the intention of collecting meteorological data. A consultation committee was formed in 2009 to initiate the development of a pilot project.

The EWA has already conducted an initial study into the potential for wind and solar power in Bahrain. The survey considered the kingdom as well as selected locations in the GCC.