UK lender HSBC is the only bidder for the consultancy services role on the planned Al-Dur 2 independent water and power project (IWPP).

HSBC submitted a price of BD1.2m ($3.1m) on 17 March.

Bahrain’s Electricity & Water Authority (EWA), the project owner of the estimated $1.5bn IWPP, issued an expression of interest (EOI) for consultants in August last year.

The proposed Al-Dur 2 IWPP will contain a gas-fired 1,500MW power generation facility.

EWA told MEED in 2014 that it was planning to commission the scheme between 2017 and 2019. However, with the main tendering process yet to begin, 2019 will be a more realistic delivery date.

The commissioning of the remaining 828MW of the 1,234MW Al-Dur 1 IWPP in the first quarter of 2012 brought the installed generating capacity in Bahrain up to 3,934MW.

Peak demand growth for electricity rebounded to reach 8.1 per cent in 2014, after having slowed significantly between 2011 and 2013 following the political unrest. EWA predicts peak demand will increase by an annual average of 6.4 per cent until 2020.

As a result, close to $1.5bn and $1bn are planned to be invested on power generation facilities and transmission projects respectively in the next four to five years.

Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) is planning to expand its captive power plant capacity, which will also increase Bahrain’s grid capacity. MEED reported in May 2015 that Alba would build a 1,300MW plant as part of its plans for a sixth potline, which was granted long-awaited government approval in the second quarter of 2015.