In the works

Bahrain's Minister of Works, HE Fahmi Bin Ali Al Jowder, says that the pipeline of financing towards government bodies remains strong.
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Despite the heat of the Middle Eastern summer, it’s been a landmark period for the Gulf utilities industry, a fact that has been highlighted by the four-country grid link-up between some GCC nations in July.

As one of those countries, the Bahraini cabinet has earmarked significant funds for the development of both the electricity and water grids – most recently a US $1.3 billion (BD500 million) loan to finance key utilities projects over the next five-year period.

The country’s Electricity and Water Authority (EWA) has been at the forefront of this renaissance. Bahrain is making headlines in the industry due to its innovative use of public private partnerships (PPP) to drive some of its biggest developments. And on the horizon, it seems that the country is likely to be a leader in terms of the amount of renewable energy that it is planning to put back into the grid.

So what are the reasons that led EWA to embrace this mix of private- and public-sector participation in utilities? Bahrain’s Minister of Works, HE Fahmi Bin Ali Al Jowder, has been in his position since 2001, and was also handed the crucial EWA portfolio in 2007. His role has been crucial in ensuring the continuation of the ministry’s self-improvement programme, which began in 2002.

“This programme firstly helped set out a strategic path for the ministry for the years to come. It also brought about a significant restructure,” Al Jowder remarks. “We involved an international consultant to look at the duties of the ministry and try and come up with a formula that would allow us to best meet the expectations of the government and the people of Bahrain.”

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Al Jowder admits that without the restructuring programme, the ministry would not have been able to move forward with its impressive portfolio of current projects. A major aspect of the reshuffle has also been a lean towards project management skills, which allows the ministry to ‘outsource’ other works to the private sector.

In 2004, the ministry determined that PPP arrangements was an area that demanded immediate focus and a deal was therefore signed with consultant KPMG to plan the legal and administrative framework of the different services.

“This not only helps the growth of the private sector but also allowed us to be more focused on delivering our projects,” Al Jowder continues, adding that EWA now has more PMI-certified project management professionals than any other organisation in Bahrain. “Now we are probably the only ministry in the Middle East to have a project management methodology which covers all our work, whether it’s construction, procurement or any other project.”

The next and final stage of the EWA plan covers the improvement of the agency’s IT systems. To that end, the ministry has signed a US $2.65 million deal with technical support outfit AECOM to upgrade software and automate all the project management steps EWA is taking.

The recent launch of Bahrain’s 2030 Economic Vision has meant that EWA’s plans come under a national framework for privatisation, a strategy that Al Jowder believes has made the realisation of PPP projects in the future will become much easier. Back in the present, however, and the fruits of the ministry’s work over the last five years or so are already more than evident.

“The first project that is being rolled out is the Al Dur Water and Power Plant, which is being developed by the private sector for the government and has been fully subscribed,” Al Jowder says. “We’re expecting the plant to begin producing water and power in June next year and achieve full production the following year.”

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