Bahrain selects preferred bidder for Al-Dur 2 IWPP

10 October 2018
Cogeneration plant will have a power generation capacity of 1,500MW

A consortium led by Saudi Arabia’s Acwa Power and Japan’s Mitsui has been selected as preferred bidder for the planned Al-Dur 2 independent water and power project (IWPP) in Bahrain.

MEED reported in August that the Acwa Power/Mitsui consortium had submitted the lowest commercial proposal after the client opened bids from the remaining two bidders.

The consortium, which also includes the local Al-Moayyed Contracting, Germany’s Siemens, China’s Sepco 3 and France’s Sidem, has now received formal notification of preferred bidder status, according to sources close to the project.

The preferred bidder submitted a power tariff of BD12.99735 per megawatt hour (MWh), and a water tariff of BD0.26352 per cubic metre (cm).

The other bidding group, led by Japan’s Sumitomo submitted a power tariff of BD13.0499/MWh, and a desalination tariff of BD0.3768/cm.

At the bid opening, the client read out the first contract year tariff for power and water and not the Hourly Equivalent Payment (HEP), which represents hourly equivalent payment based on both power and water dispatch.

For the first year tariff, bids were calculated for a gas price of $4 per million British thermal units (mmbtu). For the rest of the 19 years, under the proposed 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA), the fuel price used for the tariffs will be $8/mmbtu.

The planned Al-Dur 2 project will have a capacity of 1,500MW and a desalination component of 50 million imperial gallons a day (MIGD).

Under the proposed contract, the work will involve the design, procurement, construction and commissioning of the plant, gas connection facilities and the seawater intake/outfall facilities. The contract will also cover the operation and maintenance of the plant and the seawater intake/outfall facilities.

EWA will purchase the power under a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA), with the power capacity due to come online by June 2020. Water from the plant will be required to come online by June 2021.

MEED reported in November 2017 that EWA had appointed the Netherlands’ KPMG Fakhro as financial adviser for the Al-Dur 2 scheme. The UK-based Trowers & Hamlins is legal adviser for the project, with Canada’s WSP appointed as technical adviser. KPMG was the low bidder out of the three that opened on 10 November, with a price of BD616,375 ($1.6m).

Peak demand growth for electricity in Bahrain reached 8.1 per cent in 2014 and was recorded at 3.5 per cent in 2015. EWA predicts consumption will continue to increase by an annual average of up to 6.4 per cent until 2020.

 

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