Hyder to design Bahrain wastewater project

04 April 2011

UK firm selected for Muharraq wastewater treatment and sewage conveyance system

South Korea’s Samsung Engineering Company has awarded a contract to the UK’s Hyder Consulting to design a wastewater treatment plant and sewage conveyance system at Muharraq in Bahrain.

The deal was signed on 28 March. The conceptual designs will now be developed further to the detailed design stage for approval by Bahrain’s Public Works Ministry.

“[Hyder was] our partner when we were bidding,” says a source at Samsung Engineering. “It is a significant award for Hyder because it is one of the largest projects for wastewater in recent times.”

The ministry selected a consortium of South Korea’s Samsung Engineering Company, Abu Dhabi financial services firm Invest AD and the UK’s United Utilities International as engineering, procurement and construction contractor in February.

The joint venture offered the lowest price of BD0.550 ($1.46) a cubic metre. Bids were opened in May 2010 and the group was named as preferred bidder in July. All the bids were supported by a minimum of 75 per cent committed finance.

All three partners in the consortium are providing equity for the project, with Samsung committing 45 per cent, Invest AD 35 per cent and United Utilities 20 per cent.

The project is being debt financed by the Export-Import Bank of Korea (Kexim), Japanese lender Sumitomo Mitsui and French banks Natixis and Credit Agricole. The banks joined the deal towards the end of 2010 and will together provide around $300m. Financial close is expected to follow shortly.

The project in Muharraq, in the northeast of the capital, Manama, is the first of its kind in the region as it also incorporates wastewater collection from Bahrain’s water network.

The plant will process 100,000 cubic metres a day and is scheduled to achieve completion after 30 months. Samsung Engineering and United Utilities will handle operations and maintenance for 24 years after completion.

The government of Bahrain is being advised on the project by Germany’s Fichtner, UK bank HSBC and UK law firm Norton Rose.

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