Bidding groups for Qatar’s planned Facility E independent water and power project (IWPP) have been asked by Kahramaa, the Qatari state utility to submit alternative prices by February 28 for a larger capacity power generation component.

Earlier last year, media reports said that bids had been received by Kahramaa from three groups for the Facility E IWPP project, with Japanese firms dominating the bid list. The three bidders submitted final clarifications for original bids in November and have been invited to submit alternative proposals by February 28 for an IWPP with a power generation capacity of 2,600mW as opposed to the 2,300mW plant planned in the original tender.

The groups sending in their proposal to Kahramaa for the Facility E IWPP were Engie (France)/Mitsui (Japan)/Shikoku Electric (Japan); Marubeni (Japan)/Kyushu Electric (Japan); Sumitomo (Japan)/Kansai Electric (Japan). Each bidding consortium contained a Japanese developer and a Japanese utility.

In addition to the planned 2,300-2,600mW power generation capacity, the Facility E IWPP is expected to have a desalination capacity of 100 million imperial gallons a day (MIGD). It was earlier reported that Kahramaa had originally appointed advisors for the project in 2017 but the Qatari body appointed new advisors in June last year, comprising PwC (financial adviser), Clyde & Co (legal adviser) and Energo (technical adviser).

Facility E IWPP is the first cogeneration project that Qatar has proceeded with since it commissioned the Facility D IWPP in 2018. The Facility D plant was developed with a power generation capacity of 2,500mW and a desalination component of 136 MIGD.