The deadline had previously been extended to 17 August, at the request of bidders.

The Water & Electricity Ministry is the client. It has not given any reason for the latest delay.

Six companies have been prequalified the project. They are the US's GE; Spain's Iberdrola Ingenieria y Construccion; Japan's Mitsui & Company; Marubeni Corporation, also of Japan; SNC Lavalin of the UK and Germany's Siemens.

The successful bidder will design, supply, construct, operate and maintain the 2,000MW gas-fired power plant.

The contract has been tendered and cancelled in the past. In 2006, the US' GE Energy and South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries were selected for the work but pulled out of negotiations the following year.

The project was retendered in 2007 and awarded to the local Kharafi National, but was then cancelled because of costs (MEED 5:8:08).