A consortium led by global energy giant GDF Suez, has been awarded the contract for the construction and operation of a 1,500MW gas-fired combined cycle power plant at Az Zour in Kuwait.

As per the deal, the GDF Suez-led consortium will construct the 1,500MW power plant along with an associated water desalination plant with a capacity of 102 to 107 MIGD (464 to 486 thousand cu m/day). The plant is expected to start commercial operation in 2015.

GDF Suez said the project will be jointly owned by the consortium including Sumitomo Corporation (Japan) and its Kuwaiti partner Abdullah Hamad Al Sagar & Brothers, and Kuwaiti nationals (via an Initial Public Offering).

The consortium had won the bid for the Az Zour North Independent Water & Power Project (IWPP) in Kuwait by the State’s Partnerships Technical Bureau (PTB), it added.

Announcing this on Tuesday, Shankar Krishnamoorthy, the CEO and president of GDF Suez Energy Middle East, Turkey & Africa, said, "We are proud to be the first international investor in private power and water development in Kuwait and to partner with the PTB to develop quality infrastructure for the people of Kuwait."

The capacity of the plant will account for approximately12 per cent of Kuwait’s installed generation capacity and about 23 per cent of its installed desalination capacity.

All of the plant’s output will be purchased by the Kuwait Ministry of Electricity and Water under a 40-year long-term Energy Conversion and Water Purchase Agreement (ECWPA), he added.-TradeArabia News Service