Kuwait’s Partnerships Technical Bureau (PTB) has opened preliminary discussions with potential developers for the country’s first independent water and power project (IWPP).

Developers have been asked to indicate their interest in the project by 7 June. The winning bidder will design, finance, construct, operate and maintain the gas-fired power and water facility at a site in Al-Zour North.

The plant will have a capacity of 1,500MW of power and 100 million gallons a day of desalinated water.

A team of France’s BNP Paribas, US law firm Chadbourne & Parke and Germany’s Lahmeyer International won the mandate to advise PTB on the project in March.

Power and water from the project will be sold to the Electricity & Water Ministry under a 30-year offtake agreement.

In accordance with the public-private partnership (PPP) law the project will be undertaken by a public joint stock company of which 40 per cent will be offered to the successful developer following a competitive tendering process.

The Al-Zour North site was selected following an analysis of three sites at Al-Zour, on the east coast of the country. The site was selected as permission has already been granted for another power and water project at Al-Zour North, along with advantages such as water access.

The other project was launched as a government-procured project, but is currently under review and may become an independent project.

The Government of Kuwait has indicated its preference for building out the country’s upcoming power and water plant pipeline on an IWPP basis, as opposed to engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) basis.