Alstom wins power contract

Bahrain has awarded French engineering group Alstom Power a $300.4 million contract to build a 700 MW power station at Hidd island, the official Gulf News Agency reported.

It said the decision was taken during a cabinet meeting and would make the plant the biggest in Bahrain.

Bahrain awarded ABB and Fisa Italimpianti of Italy a $458 million deal in 1997 to build the first phase of the Hidd plant, which produces 280 MW of electricity and 30 million gallons of desalinated water per day.

In June, a finance ministry official said Bahrain was seeking $345 million in loans to finance the expansion of the Hidd power and water project.

Oman appoints project advisor

Muscat: A consortium of international consultants has won a contract to advise Oman on the commercialisation of the Salalah Wastewater Collection and Conveyance System.

The contract signals the government's bid to place the operation and management of the Salalah wastewater scheme in private hands, a report said.

The consortium groups Ernst & Young, as lead and financial adviser, Curtis-Mallet-Provost as legal adviser, and Mott MacDonald as technical adviser.

Work on the Salalah wastewater scheme - the first of its kind in the Sultanate - is currently under way at an estimated cost of RO31 million ($80.51 million).

The project involves the construction of a network of around 570 km of collector and lateral sewer lines connecting some 10,000 homes in Salalah town, the report said.

Galfar Engineering & Contracting Construction is executing the construction of the network on behalf of the Salalah Sanitary Drainage Services Company SAOC (SSDSC), a statutory body wholly owned by the Government of Oman.

Movenpick to run Bahrain hotel

Manama: Muharraq's first hotel is to be completed by next June. The BD5 million ($13.26 million) Airport Hotel and Business Centre will be managed by the Swiss-based company Movenpick.

GPZ is the main contractor for the 120-room four-star Bahrain hotel project while Mohamed Salahuddin Consulting Engineering Bureau (MSCEB) is the chief consulting architect and engineer. Project manager Sushil Kher said work began on the hotel last April and construction was back on schedule after a few initial glitches.

The five-storey property, located between Gulf Air's headquarters and the main passenger terminal, will include three guest floors and will have a fine-dining restaurant, a 24-hour coffee shop and banquet facilities.