Kuwait is still evaluating technical proposals for its second major independent water and power project (IWPP), Al-Zour North 2.

According to sources close to the scheme, the Kuwait Authority for Partnership Projects (KAPP), the country’s public-private partnership (PPP) body, and the Ministry of Electricity & Water (MEW) are still evaluating technical proposals for the planned 1,500MW IWPP.

“The technical bids are still being looked at, it may take some time yet before the commercial envelopes are opened,” says a source familiar with the scheme.

Under Kuwait’s IWPP model, commercial tariff prices will not be opened until after the technical evaluation, which, according to sources close to the scheme, has still not been completed. Technical and commercial bids were submitted by three groups on 21 June.

The three groups that submitted bids are:

• Acwa Power (Saudi Arabia) / Mitsui (Japan) / Al-Mulla Group Holding (local)
• Marubeni Corporation (Japan) / Fouad al-Ghanim & Sons (local)
• Sumitomo Corporation (Japan) / Osaka Gas Company (Japan) / National Industries Holding Group (local)

The Al-Zour North 2 IWPP will have a power generation capacity of 1,500MW and a desalination component of at least 102 million imperial gallons a day (MIGD).

As with the first Al-Zour North IWPP, the phase 2 scheme will run on natural gas as the main feedstock and gas oil, which will be provided by the MEW.