05-05-2025
Kuwait opens financial bids for $3.9bln Az-Zour North IWPP Phases 2 & 3
The Kuwait Authority for Partnership Projects (KAPP) held a public session to open the financial envelopes for the Az-Zour North IWPP Phases 2 and 3 (combined), the Authority said in a post on social media platform X on Monday.
The session was attended by representatives of the qualified bidders, the post said.
Az-Zour North IWPP Phases 2 & 3 involve the financing, design, construction, operation, maintenance, and transfer of a combined power and desalination plant with a minimum capacity of 2,700 megawatts (MW) of power and 120 million imperial gallons per day (MIGD) of desalinated water, according to previous KAPP statements.
The facility will use Liquefied Natural Gas and high-pressure natural gas, with gas oil as a backup fuel, and will connect to the national grid via a 400 kV transmission substation.
Three consortiums and two companies were qualified to bid for the project, according to the project's Request for Proposal (RFP) notice. These were:
• Consortium led by TAQA (Abu Dhabi National Energy Company) with local company A.H Al Sagar & Brothers Co and Japan's JERA as members
• Saudi's ACWA Power as lead, with local firm Gulf Investment Corporation
• China Power International Holding as lead, with Malaysia's Malakoff International and Saudi Arabia's Abdul Aziz Al Ajlan Sons Co as members.
• In addition, Qatar's Nebras Power and Japan's Sumitomo Corporation were among the qualified companies.
The project will be implemented by the winning bidder under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) agreement extending up to 27 years and 8 months (investment period). The project company will sign a 25-year Energy Conversion and Water Purchase Agreement (ECWPA) with the Ministry of Electricity & Water & Renewable Energy (MEWRE) starting from the project's commercial operation date.
The project is estimated to cost 1.2 billion Kuwaiti dinars ($3.9 billion), a January 2025 report by Zawya Projects said.
It will be located adjacent to the existing Az-Zour North Phase 1 facility and Az-Zour South power complex, around 100 kilometers south of Kuwait City.
The tendering process was launched with an Expression of Interest (EOI) in July 2018. The qualified bidders were announced on 3 December 2023 followed by Request for Proposal (RFP) on 27 March 2024.
KAPP and MEWRE are supported by Ernst & Young as lead and financial advisor, Addleshaw Goddard as legal advisor, and Atkins as technical and environmental advisor.
(Writing by SA Kader; Editing by Anoop Menon)
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