Bahrain’s Electricity & Water Authority (EWA) has notified prequalifiers for its planned Al-Dur 2 independent water and power project (IWPP).

MEED reported in August that EWA had received prequalification entries from 15 developers, and according to sources close to the project the client this week sent out letters to developers which have successfully prequalified for the tender.

The client has not yet indicated when the RFPs will be issued, but due to the finalisation of the prequalification process the project is expected to tendered in the coming weeks.

The Al-Dur 2 project is planned to have a capacity of 1,200-1,500MW 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 be online by June 2020. Water from the plant will be required to come online by June 2021.

MEED reported in November that the EWA had appointed the Netherlands’ KPMG Fakhro as financial adviser for the Al-Dur 2 scheme. The UK’s Trowers & Hamlins is legal adviser for the project, with Canada’s WSP having been appointed as technical adviser. KPMG was the low bidder out of three bids 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. The EWA is predicting consumption will continue to increase by an annual average of up to 6.4 per cent until 2020.