Kuwait’s public-private partnership (PPP) body, Kuwait Authority for Partnership Projects (KAPP), is planning to issue request for proposals (RFPs) for the Al-Khiran Independent Water & Power Project (IWPP) before the end of 2016.

Speaking at MEED’s Kuwait Projects conference in Kuwait City on 28 November, Motlaq al-Sanei, general head of projects at KAPP, confirmed that the RFP would be issued before the end of the year.

The Al-Khiran 1 IWPP will have a generation capacity of 1,500MW, the same as Al-Zour North 1 and Al-Zour North 2, but will have a larger desalination component of 125 million imperial gallons a day (MIGD).

KAPP has prequalified the following seven groups to participate in the Al-Khiran IWP tender:

• Abengoa (Spain)
• Acwa Power (Saudi Arabia)
• Korea Electric Power Company (South Korea)
• Marubeni (Japan)
• Mitsubishi (Japan)
• Mitsui (Japan)
• Sumitomo (Japan) / Osaka Gas Company (Japan) / National Industries Holding Consortium (local)

Al-Khiran 1 will run on low-sulphur fuel oil (LSFO), unlike the Al-Zour North 1 and 2 projects, which will run on gas. The Al-Khiran 1 IWPP will have the capability to run on the back-up fuels of natural gas, crude oil and gas oil.

Kuwait’s first IWPP project, Al-Zour North 1 IWPP, is nearing full commissioning, with proposals for the second Al-Zour North phase currently under evaluation.