HPC starts making profit within six months
The Hidd power plant, one of the pioneer private power plants in the region, will be showcased at the forthcoming Power-Gen Middle East 2007 conference and exhibition.
Power-Gen Middle East Conference and Exhibition 2007, to be held at the Bahrain International Exhibition Centre from January 22 to 24, is offering the opportunity to take a guided technical tour of the facility on January 21.
Within the six months of operations Hidd Power Company (HPC) announced that it was making profits.
It was the largest ever privatisation deal in the history of the Kingdom as the government had sold the Hidd Power and Water Station to HPC for $738.2 million in January last year. The private company signed a 20-year agreement to supply power and water to the government. HPC, as per the agreement, is bound to upgrade and expand the existing facility. HPC took over the operations of the power plant on January 24, 2006 - a day after the Power and Water Purchase Agreement was signed.
HPC is a joint venture formed by UK-based International Power, Belgium's Suez Energy and Japan's Sumitomo Corporation. While the UK firm owns 40 per cent stake in the joint venture firm, Suez Energy and Sumitomo equally share the rest.
The joint venture firm announced to investing $500 million in the plant to expand the existing 30 Million Imperial Gallons per Day (MIGD) water desalination plant to a 60 MIGD facility.
Currently there are two phases of power plant on the site, with a third phase already planned.
Phase I has a power capacity of 280MW gross with a desalination capacity of 30MIGD, which entered full commercial operation in early 2000.
Phase II currently has a power capacity of 675MW and entered full commercial operation in 2004. Phase II has the interconnections for a desalination plant to be integrated into it as part of the scope of supply for Phase III. Phase III will consist of an expansion to the desalination capacity by 60MIGD.
The technical tour will provide visitors an insight into the current and future of the facility and learn from the exciting developments the power plant has in store.
Power-Gen Middle East is the region's leading conference and exhibition dedicated to the power generation industry and with the rising economic growth and prosperity in the Middle East, demands for power and energy are on the increase.
The event is a great opportunity for the power generation and transmission and distribution industries and provides a unique platform from which the market can develop to meet the region's power requirements, share information and conduct business in a face-to-face environment.
With over 100 exhibitors and over 4,000 expected visitors from over 50 countries, Power-Gen Middle East has become the most important annual meeting place for international power executives with interests in the Middle East.
The conference offers leading international speakers discussing a range of topics, looking at both strategic opportunities and technical issues, whilst the exhibition provides a display of the leading products and services and advancements in technology, making the event an important date in the diary of the power industry executive.
© Bahrain Tribune 2007
