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Acwa Power and GIC team bids for Al-Zour North 2 & 3

2 January 2025

 

A team comprising Saudi Arabia’s Acwa Power and Kuwait’s Gulf Investment Corporation (GIC) is understood to have submitted a bid for the contract to develop Kuwait’s second independent water and power project (IWPP).

Kuwait’s Ministry of Electricity, Water & Renewable Energy (MEWRE), through the Kuwait Authority for Partnership Projects (Kapp), received the bid on 30 December.

It is unclear if any other team submitted a bid for the contract to develop the Al-Zour North 2 and 3 IWPP.

The project will merge the previously planned second and third phases of the power plant complex. It will have a generation capacity of 2,700MW and a desalination capacity of 120 million imperial gallons a day (MIGD).

In addition to the Acwa Power-GIC consortium, companies that have been qualified to bid for the contract to develop the Al-Zour North 2 & 3 IWPP scheme include:

  • Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa) / AH Al-Sager & Brothers Company (local) / Jera (Japan)
  • China Power International Holding (China) / Malakoff International (Malaysia) / Abdulaziz Al-Ajlan & Sons (Saudi Arabia)
  • Nebras Power (Qatar)
  • Sumitomo Corporation (Japan)

Located about 100 kilometres south of Kuwait City, the project will be adjacent to the western border of the first Al-Zour North facility for electric power generation and water desalination, which is currently in operation, and on the northern border of the Al-Zour South station.

Separate contracts

Kapp received statements of qualifications for the contracts to develop Al-Zour North 2 and 3 and another project – the Al-Khiran 1 IWPP – in 2023.

However, Kuwait is now procuring the two projects as two separate IWPP contracts.

The contract to develop the Al-Zour North 2 and 3 IWPP scheme was tendered on 31 March and a pre-bid conference was conducted in May.

The tender proceedings for Al-Khiran 1 IWPP have yet to begin.

    The Al-Khiran 1 IWPP will have a power generation capacity of 1,800MW and a desalination capacity of 33 MIGD.

    Both projects will export their production to the electricity and water transmission grid through an energy transfer and water purchase contract agreement with MEWRE for 25 years from the station’s date of operation.

    Both plants are expected to run on a mixture of liquefied natural gas and high-pressure natural gas, with gas oil as a reserve fuel. 

    MEED understands that the selected developer or developers will have the option to use thermal or reverse osmosis technology for the water desalination facility.   

    A team comprising UK-headquartered firms EY, Atkins and Addleshaw Goddard won the transaction advisory contract for the two IWPPs in April 2021, two months after Kapp obtained approval from the State Audit Bureau to award the contract.

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    Jennifer Aguinaldo

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