Qatar’s General Electricity & Water Corporation (Kahramaa) has extended the submission date for bids for the planned independent water project (IWP) at Ras Laffan Industrial City to 23 February.

The previous submission date was 6 January. This is the second time that the bid deadline has been extended, with bids originally due on 6 November.

Bidders have been asked to submit prices for the initial and final capacities planned for the IWP. Bidders will submit prices for the proposed 42 million gallon-a-day (g/d) initial capacity and also for the final capacity of 114 million g/d. The commissioning date for the plant is scheduled to be April 2017.

The project is planned to be developed under a 25-year build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) agreement, with the successful bidder set to undertake a 30 per cent stake in the project company. The remaining shares will be divided between Qatar Electricity & Water Company (QEWC), with 60 per cent; Qatar Petroleum (QP), with 5 per cent; and Qatar Foundation, with 5 per cent.

Another large-scale desalination facility is planned as part of Qatar’s next independent water and power project (IWPP), known as Facility D. In May, four groups submitted prices for the IWPP, which will have a power generation capacity of 2,400MW and a desalination capacity of 130 million g/d.

The IWPP is estimated to require $3bn-worth of investment, with a large proportion of this to be project financed by banks. It is thought that government-backed export credit agencies (ECAs), such as Japan Bank for International Cooperation (Jbic), will have to play a role in raising the necessary financing.

Kahramaa’s previous major desalination project was the $500m Ras Abu Fontas A2 plant, which is being developed by QEWC. QEWC completed financing for the project in January 2013.

The company is developing a 72 million g/d multi-stage flash desalination plant next to the Ras Abu Fontas A1 plant. The UK’s HSBC is the financial adviser on the scheme. Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation and Toyo Thai Engineering Company have been appointed to build the facility. The scheme is expected to be completed and commissioned by June 2015.