Kuwait’s Ministry of Electricity and Water (MEW), in partnership with the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR), has revealed that the consortium of TSK Electronica y Electricidad from Spain and the local Kharafi National have submitted the lowest bid at $388 million for the construction of Shagaya concentrated solar power (CSP) plant.

The CSP plant will be a 50 megawatt (MW) parabolic trough plant with thermal energy storage that will enable the state to evaluate the performance of this technology under local climate conditions. The joint venture clients have revealed that an award in expected in May.

Estimated to be around $500 million, the CSP plant is the third phase of the Shagaya renewable energy plant. The first phase includes a 10 MW solar photovoltaic capacity that is being built by the consortium of TSK Electronica y Electricidad and Mohammed Abdul Mohsin Al Kharafi & Sons while the second phase involves a 10 MW wind power plant that is being constructed by the joint venture (JV) of Al Ghanim International General Trading & Contracting and Spain’s Elecnor. Upon completion, the plant is expected to supply the national electricity grid with up to 225,000 MW per year.

In March 2015, 11 companies had presented their bids for the solar plant. The bidders include: The partnership of TSK Electronica y Electricidad and Kharafi National; Elecnor and Alghanim International; Abengoa and Bader Mulla; the partnership of Cobra Group (Grupo ACS) and Mutajer Gulf United General Contracting; Abantia and Burhan International Construction Company and Larsen & Toubro.