Hidd Power Company (HPC), a consortium comprising the UK's International Power (IP) with 40 per cent and Japan's Sumitomo Corporation and Belgium's Suez Tractebel, each with 30 per cent, on 22 January took over operation of the Hidd power and desalination complex. The handover came a day after the signature of the key project agreements on the brownfield independent water and power project (IWPP) between HPC and the Finance Ministry. The winning consortium, which was named preferred bidder when three prices were opened in mid-December, acquires the existing 1,000-MW, 30 million-gallon-a-day (g/d) power and desalination complex for $738 million and will install 60 million g/d of new desalination capacity on a build-own-operate (BOO) basis, taking total project costs to $1,250 million. The duration of the power and water purchase agreement (PWPA) is 20 years.