The Kuwait Authority for Partnership Projects (KAPP) said on Monday that it has received final proposals from two prequalified teams for the Umm Al Hayman Wastewater PPP project.

According to local sources, the two consortia includes the following firms: WTE Wassertechnik GmbH Group, International Financial Advisors K.S.C.0, Kharafi National KSC and Alfanar Company.

In October 2015 we informed that a total of five teams were shortlisted to develop the wastewater project:

• Besix, Orascom Construction Industries (OCI), Aqualia (FCC), and Privatization Holding Company (PHC).
• Kharafi and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.
• Marubeni Group, Korea Water Resources Corporation (Kwater), and Ali Alghanim Sons.
• Mitsui & Co, GS Engineering and Construction, Ahmadiah Contracting & Trading, and Fouad Alghanim & Sons.
• Veolia, Samsung, Itochu, A.H AlSagar & Bros, and Degremont.

The project involves the development of a wastewater system with an initial capacity of 500,000 m 3 /day (with an option to expand the capacity by an additional 200,000 m 3 /day) and associated wastewater transmission and sewage effluent networks.

The facilities will be located on the site of the existing Umm Al Hayman wastewater treatment plant in Southern Kuwait, with transmission and distribution systems extending to the surrounding catchment areas.

MPW will enter into a PPP agreement for a period of 27.5-year that includes:

• build, operate and transfer (BOT) agreement, whereby the investor will be responsible for the design, financing, construction, rehabilitation, commissioning of the wastewater plant in 2.5 years, followed by a 25-year period of operations and maintenance. At the end of the PPP agreement term, the asset will be transferred to MPW; and

• a 5.5-year design, build and operate (DBO) agreement for the associated wastewater transmission and sewage effluent networks, whereby the Government of Kuwait will finance the capital costs of the assets and the investor will be required to build the networks followed by a 3-year period of operations and maintenance before they are handed back to MPW.

The total project investment is estimated at US$1.8 billion.

The project is part of the country's plan to raise its power-generation capacity to meet the expansion of residential developments across Kuwait as well as to boost manufacturing, and develop new industries such as tourism.

Fichtner Consulting Engineers was appointed as transaction advisor, HSBC financial advisor and Norton Rose legal advisor.