Kuwait’s Ministry of Electricity & Water (MEW) has received bids for two electricity contracts worth a total of KD52.7m ($185m) in Kuwait City.

For the first contract, MEW received bids from eight firms to supply and install 300kV overhead lines to connect transfer stations in the Rawdatain area of Kuwait City.

The local Combined Mozen Trading and General Contracting submitted the low bid of KD29.8m, which was less than 1 per cent lower than the KD30m price submitted by the local Al-Mulla Building and Construction, the second-lowest bidder.

The local Al-Thuwani Commercial submitted the third-lowest price of KD30.1m.

The second contract will involve supplying and installing a 132kV electricity transfer station at Rawdatain and the expansion of a 132kV transfer station at Salmiya.

MEW received bids from five groups for the contract. The local branch of Switzerland’s ABB submitted the lowest price of KD22.9m ($80.5m). This was 9.5 per cent lower than the second-lowest price of KD25.3m, submitted by the local Abdul Aziz Abdul Mohsen Rashed.

The local Middle East Electricity Company submitted the third-lowest price of KD25.8m.

The projects are the latest of several contracts MEW has tendered in recent months, as Kuwait seeks to upgrade and expand its utilities networks.

In February, Kuwait’s Central Tenders Committee (CTC) approved the award of a KD17.5m contract to Saudi Arabia’s National Contracting Company (NCC) to build the Z1 400kV substation at Sabah al-Ahmad in Kuwait.

MEW had received bids from contractors on 18 December. NCC’s price of KD17.5m ($62m) was 10 per cent lower than the KD19.5m submitted by Switzerland’s ABB, the second-lowest bidder.

The project is the second substation contract NCC has won at Sabah al-Ahmad. In August 2012, MEW awarded the Saudi contractor a $68m contract to build the Z4 400kV substation at Sabah al-Ahmed.