Prequalified developers are still waiting for news on when the request for proposals (RFPs) will be issued for the planned Facility E independent water and power project (IWPP).

MEED reported in March that state utility Kahramaa had prequalified developers for the planned power and water plant. However, prequalified firms have not been given any indication on when tender documents for the project will be issued. According to sources close to the project, the client has been assessing whether the project should proceed as originally planned, or whether there should be amendments to the scope, due to changing demand forecasts.

Prequalified bidders for the project are understood to include: Engie (France)/Mitsui (Japan), Itochu (Japan), Kepco (South Korea)/Mitsubishi (Japan), PowerChina (China) and Sumitomo (Japan).

The IWPP is expected to have a power generation capacity of between 2,000-2,500MW and a desalination capacity of between 100 and 130 million imperial gallons a day (MIGD).

MEED reported in February last year that Kahramaa had selected advisers for the Facility E IWPP. The appointed advisory consortium contains the UK’s EY as financial consultant, Finland’s Poyry as technical consultant and the UK’s DLA Piper as legal adviser.

Facility E is intended to meet demand for electricity in Qatar in the years following 2020, with the Facility D IWPP currently under construction.

In 2015, a consortium of Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation and Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) was awarded a contract to develop the $3bn Facility D IWPP in Qatar Economic Zone, about 15 kilometres south of Doha. The plant will have a total power capacity of 2.5GW and a desalination capacity of 136 MIGD.