International law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has represented the Bahraini government on the proposed development of the $2 billion Al Dur Independent Water and Power Project (IWPP).
 The IWPP comprises a 1,234 MW power facility and a 48 million gallons per day (MIGD) desalination facility.
Construction will begin shortly and be completed in two phases. The first phase will generate a power capacity of 600 MW by the summer of 2010 with the remainder of the power plant and the desalination plant in operation by June 2011. The project is the third and largest independent power and water project in Bahrain and constitutes a major step in the modernisation and privatisation of the electricity and water sector in the country.
Harnek Shoker, head of the Bahrain office, who led the Freshfields team, said his company’s involvement was a continuation of its long-standing relationship with Bahrain’s Ministry of Finance and the Electricity and Water Authority.
The Freshfields team also included senior associates William Breeze and William Coleman, associate Carlo Calabrese and legal assistant Dina Nassif.
In 2007 Freshfields advised the Bahraini government on the $738.2 million sale of Al Hidd Water and Power Plant to a consortium of International Power, Sumitomo Corporation and Suez Tractebal, the first privatisation of an existing power and water generation asset in Bahrain. In 2005 the firm represented the government on the development of the El Ezzel 1,000 MW independent power plant.