Kuwait’s Ministry of Electricity & Water has invited prequalified contractors to submit bids for the deal to build electricity lines linking with Subiya power plant.

Prequalified groups have until 13 August to submit bids for the tender. The work will involve supplying and installing 400kV overhead lines from the Subiya power plant and the Al-Zour transformer station.

The project will enable increased transmission capacity from the Subiya plant. The ministry recently awarded a contract to the local Alghanim International to expand the capacity of the Subiya plant. The local contractor will install two 225MW gas turbines at the power plant. Germany’s Siemens will provide the turbines for the scheme.

The projects are part of Kuwait’s efforts to boost its generation capacity to cope with its rapidly expanding population.

In January, Kuwait’s Partnerships Technical Bureau (PTB) awarded the consortium of UK/French company GDF Suez, Japan’s Sumitomo and Kuwait’s AH Sagar & Brothers Group the contract to build the Al-Zour North independent water and power project (IWPP).

The winning group will design, finance, build, operate and maintain the 1,500MW plant, which will provide 102-107 million gallons a day of desalinated water. The project is to enter commercial operation by 31 May 2015.