The
Electricity and Water Authority (EWA) of Bahrain plans to award a consultancy
contract for its first renewables power generation project in January, with a
view to tender for the construction contract by mid-2011, or in the third
quarter.
“We
are bringing in an international consultant, and we’ve got quite a good number
at the tendering stage. We feel that the award will be in January,” said Dr Abdulmajeed
Ali Alawadhi, EWA’s chief executive officer.
“The
consultant needs at least six months to prepare the document, so we are
expecting to tender for a contractor to build it by mid-2011 or Q3 next year.”
The
plant will combine both solar power and wind power, and have a generation
capacity of between three and five MW, the CEO said.
This
project marks a first step towards Bahrain’s efforts to produce five percent of
its energy from renewable sources, according to Alawadhi.
“We
have a 2030 target, we would like to be like developed countries that have a
minimum of five percent for the production of renewables,” he said.
Bahrain
has already undertaken pilot projects in the field of renewable energy, hoisting
a wind turbine onto an oil rig at a height of 50 metres to test the viability
of wind power off the shores of the island kingdom. One of its highways is lit
by solar powered street lights.
To
push forward the renewables agenda, EWA is heading a committee including
representatives from national oil company BAPCO, the Ministry of Industry,
aluminium producer Alba and the country’s university.
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