Bahrain’s ministries of Electricity and Water (MEW) and Finance will launch the second phase of their Addur independent water and power project (IWPP) within the next two years.

The new plant will add an additional 1,000MW of capacity. The MEW hopes to bring the project online by 2014.

France’s GDF-Suez and Gulf Investment Corporation are the developers behind the Addur IWPP.

The first phase of the project reached its $2.2bn financial close in 2009 and is currently under construction.

When complete, the first phase of the plant will have a capacity of 1,234MW of power and 48 million gallons a day of water. It is scheduled to start producing 400MW in June 2010, followed by the remaining 834MW, which will come online in 2011.

The water desalination component of the project will start operating when the first phase of the project is complete.

The second phase of the plant will be followed by a further two extensions over the next 20 years, with each phase adding roughly 1,000MW in capacity.