The UK’s Mott MacDonald has been appointed to update and expand Bahrain’s electricity and water masterplan up to 2030.

The UK consultant will draw up a masterplan for Bahrain’s Electricity & Water Authority (EWA) utility sector for 2015 to 2030, realigning and updating the current masterplan which covers the period up to 2020.

Speaking at MEED’s Bahrain Energy Forum in Manama on 22 April, Adnan Mohammed Fakhro, deputy chief executive for distribution & customer services, EWA said that the masterplan would be a comprehensive blueprint for Bahrain’s utility sector over the 15-year period, and outlined some key areas it would cover.

The 2015-2030 masterplan will include population and load forecasting and an assessment of the projected life of existing production facilities. The masterplan will also outline requirements for new electricity generation and water production facilities and plans for increasing the kingdom’s 220Kv, 66Kv and 33Kv transmission networks. The plan will also consider strategies for developing optimum high level electricity.

Fakhro told the MEED event that the kingdom required new power capacity by 2017 and new water desalination capacity by 2018 to avoid a shortfall.