US embassy cable - 04MANAMA1487

C O N F I D E N T I A L MANAMA 001487 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ARPI 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/25/2014 
TAGS: ECON, PGOV, BA, ENGR 
SUBJECT: MINISTER OF ELECTRICITY AND WATER UPDATES ON 
INVESTIGATION INTO BLACKOUT 
 
REF: MANAMA 1319 
 
Classified By: Ambassador William T. Monroe 
for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
1. (U)  The Minister of Electricity and Water Shaikh Abdulla 
bin Salman Al Khalifa discussed with the Ambassador on 
September 20 Bahrain's water supply and the investigation 
into the recent national electricity blackout. Shaikh Abdulla 
stated that Bahrain's aquifer is becoming increasingly salty. 
 He added that one third of Bahrain's water supply comes from 
the aquifer and two thirds from its desalination plants.  He 
explained that Bahrain has two desalination plants operating 
at full capacity (60 million gallons per day each) and in 
2006 a planned third desalination plant will come on line 
with a capacity of 97 million gallons per day.  In response 
to the Ambassador's question, the Minister explained that the 
tendering process for the construction of the plant will be 
open and he welcomed all interested American companies to 
bid. 
 
2.  (C) Shaikh Abdulla told the Ambassador that the 
investigation into the national blackout was ongoing 
(reftel).  He added that the Prime Minister requested that 
Minister of Foreign Affairs Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al 
Khalifa review the investigative report and present its 
findings.  Shaikh Abdulla blamed the national blackout on 
aluminum manufacturer  ALBA, claiming that the company 
switched 320 megawatts of power from its internal grid onto 
the national grid, causing a surge that triggered the safety 
shut-down of Bahrain's main power plant. 
ZIADEH