Shortlisted developers have been given a further month to prepare proposals for the Ras Laffan independent water and power project (IWPP). Bids are now due to be returned on 31 October to Qatar General Petroleum Corporation (QGPC - MEED 2:6:00).

The prequalifiers are the UK's National Power, Belgium's Tractebel, Marubeni Corporation and Mitsubishi Corporation, both of Japan, and two US developers, CMS Energy and AES Corporation. The successful bidder, due to be announced before the end of the year, will take a 55 per cent stake in a new utility company charged with implementing the project on a build-own-operate (BOO) basis.

Other prospective shareholders are Qatar Electricity & Water Company, Gulf Investment Corporation and QGPC.

The plant will have capacity of 750 MW and 40 million gallons a day. First power and water is due to come on stream in the spring of 2003. The technical consultant for the IWPP is Switzerland's Electrowatt Engineering Services.