Bahrain has prequalified 13 international and regional firms to build a water desalination and power plant, a report said.

The Addur plant will have capacity of at least 500 MW of power by 2010, increasing to as much as 2,000 MW the following year, the London-based Middle East Economic Digest (MEED) said on its Web site on Wednesday.

The prequalified firms include the UK's International Power, Japan's Sumitomo Corporation, Korea Electric Power Corporation, India's Reliance Energy Limited, France's Suez and Abu Dhabi Energy Company (Taqa).

Demand for water and electricity in Bahrain is rising as a construction boom sweeps the region, fuelled by oil income.-Reuters