Kuwait’s Electricity & Water Ministry has unveiled plans to issue a tender to build a 450MW power plant at Subiya in March.

Speaking at MEED’s Arabian Power & Water Summit in Abu Dhabi on 6 March, Suhaila Marafi, director of the ministry’s department of studies, said that the project will comprise two 225MW power generating units.

A tender for another power plant will follow at Al-Zour South. The project will also have a capacity of 450MW and comprise two 225MW units. Bids will be invited by the end of 2012.

Both projects will be built on an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) basis. According to Kuwaiti law, projects more than 500MW must be tendered as independent power projects (IPPs).

The ministry is also planning to invite bids for a desalination plant at Doha. The reverse osmosis plant will be tendered in two phases. The first is to be tendered in June 2012 and is to have a capacity of 50 million gallons a day (g/d). The second 50 million g/d phase will be tendered in June 2013. The ministry has budgeted KD140m ($503m) for the first phase and KD120m for the second phase.

In alternative energy, Kuwait intends to issue tender documents for its renewable energy park at Abdaly through the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) by the end of September. The park will include a 10MW wind project, a 10MW photovoltaic solar project and a 50MW concentrated solar power facility. Each of the facilities will be tendered separately. Germany’s Fichtner is advising on the project.