French utility Suez said on Tuesday it, and Japanese trading house Mitsui, were picked as preferred bidder for a power and water project in Qatar, which it said would generate revenues of $22.7 billion over 27 years.

Suez and Mitsui have a 40 percent stake in the project, located in the industrial city of Ras Laffan, with the remainder split between state-owned Qatar Petroleum and Qatar Electricity and Water Corp.

The plant will provide 2,730 megawatts of electricity and more than 286,000 cubic meters desalinated water per day, making it  the largest such plant in Qatar, Suez said in a statement.

Ras Laffan should start production by April 2011, with an early water and power phase by May 2010. - Reuters