Gulf Construction Online

Regional News

In Brief

01 June 2018

Al Dur 2 launch set for 2020

Bahrain’s Electricity and Water Authority (EWA) said Phase Two of the Al Dur 2 Independent Water and Power Project will start operations by early June in 2020.

The project is being developed in co-operation with the kingdom’s private sector, stated a BNA report, citing the Minister of Electricity and Water Affairs.

According to Dr Abdul Hussain bin Ali Mirza, the initial stage of this phase would have a generation capacity of 800 MW, expanding to a total of 1,500 MW upon completion in June 2022, and a desalination capacity of 25 million gallons per day.

Once Phase Two becomes operational, the total production capacity will hit 5,421 MW and 229 million gallons per day, representing a 38.2 per cent uplift in electricity production capacity and a 27.9 per cent increase in water production capacity.

500 hotels under way in MEA

Hotel supply in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) continues to grow as the region has registered a total of 530 properties with 141,400 rooms currently under construction.

Of the total, about 386 hotels (114,456 rooms) are in the Middle East, while the rest are in the African region, the April Pipeline Report from STR Global showed.

Dubai topped the MEA list for the largest number of rooms under construction with the total put at 41,846 rooms. Two other markets reported more than 10,000 rooms under construction: Makkah, Saudi Arabia (25,619 rooms) and Doha, Qatar (10,228 rooms).

The Middle East figure represents a 36.3 per cent increase compared with April 2017.

Duqm airport ‘nearly complete’

Work is progressing well on the passenger terminal building at Duqm Airport in Oman with more than 96 per cent of the construction already completed, said a report.

With only the finishing works and operational tests left remaining, the building will soon be open to the public, reported the Muscat Daily, citing the Ministry of Transport and Communications.

On completion, the passenger terminal at the Duqm Airport will have a total area of 8,660 sq m and will be able to handle up to 500,000 passengers per year. Duqm Airport is also equipped with two airbridges connected to five departure halls, which are installed with e-gates for a smooth clearance and onward travel, it added.