Italian export credit agency Sace is supporting the financing of a power project at Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), in order to cover supply contracts assigned to GE Power and Gama Power Systems (GE-Gama) consortium for the construction of a new power station, Power Station 5, in the kingdom.

GE-Gama consortium will provide gas turbines, engineering and design services for the combined-cycle gas-fed power station which will be connected with Alba's Line 6 Expansion Project.

Sace said the €125 million ($147 million) guarantee will support 40 Italian sub-contractors, mostly small and medium enterprises (SMEs), specialised in machinery and components for the energy sector.

With an approximate total investment of $3 billion, the new Alba plant will be the world's largest single-site smelter, boasting a production of 1.5 million tonnes per year, once completed.

It will strengthen the economy of the country, attracting huge foreign investments in the industry, said the statement from Sace.
 
Despite a lull in the previous two years, the Bahraini economy grew at a three per cent rate in 2016, with average projections of two per cent for forthcoming years.

According to Sace, the Italian exports to the country doubled last year (over 56 per cent), but the volume is still at modest levels (€123 million).

Bahrain is among the most differentiated economies in the GCC and offers a great potential to Italian companies, especially in the energy, infrastructure, fashion and luxury goods sectors, it added.-TradeArabia News Service