Expo City Dubai awards nature reserve contract
31 July 2025
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Expo City Dubai has awarded a contract to Dubai-based landscaping firm Proscape to deliver the Expo Valley nature reserve project.
Proscape’s scope of work includes land grading, construction of a lake, irrigation and associated infrastructure works.
Construction has begun, and the project is expected to be completed in the first half of 2026.
The nature reserve will cover 10 hectares and feature about 1,200 trees.
Expo City Dubai said in a statement: “The nature reserve will offer a biodiverse, restorative environment, a lake, a wadi and a variety of landscaping, and will be designed and built in collaboration with wildlife specialists to support a wide range of flora and fauna at Expo City.”
The developer has recently launched several real estate projects at the Expo 2020 Dubai site, including Expo Valley, Mangrove Residences, Sky Residences, Sidr Residences and Al-Waha Residences.
The developments will be built close to the Dubai Exhibition Centre, whose masterplan was approved last year by Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
The AED10bn ($2.7bn) expansion of the Dubai Exhibition Centre is part of the Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan. Under the plan, Expo City Dubai will become an economic hub driven by exhibitions and events.
Expo City Dubai will gradually expand to cover 3.5 square kilometres, with facilities for 35,000 residents and 40,000 professionals.
Dubai real estate developments dominate the UAE’s construction market, with schemes worth over $323bn in the execution or planning stages.
This is in line with a forecast by GlobalData, which predicts that the output of the UAE construction sector will grow by 4.2% in real terms in 2025, supported by developments in infrastructure, energy and utilities and residential construction projects.
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Exclusive from Meed
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UAE firm wins contract for battery storage project
10 October 2025
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Ashghal seeks firms for sports facilities upgrade
10 October 2025
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Tendering begins for $1bn Sal Riyadh logistics centre
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Eni restarts oil and gas exploration in Libya
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UAE firm wins contract for battery storage project
10 October 2025
Etihad Water & Electricity (EtihadWE) has won the award to develop the UAE’s largest grid-side energy storage project to be awarded through open tender.
Its subsidiary, Emirates Utilities Development Company (EUDC), will develop and operate the project, its first since its establishment.
Chinese firm Dongfang International has been appointed as the EPC contractor.
Called Bess 1, the project closely follows the model of Abu Dhabi’s independent power project (IPP) programme, in which developers enter into a long-term energy storage agreement (ESA) with Ewec as the sole procurer.
The contract was signed at the Ministry of Energy in Abu Dhabi in the presence of senior officials from Dongfang Electric Corporation, EtihadWE and EUDC.
In April, MEED reported that Ewec had received proposals for the facility, which is expected to provide a total storage capacity of close to 1GWh across two sites, Al-Bihouth and Madinat Zayed. It will also include supporting booster stations.
It is understood that the ESA will be for 15 years, commencing on the project’s commercial operation date, which falls in the third quarter of 2026.
The overall capacity of deployed bess globally is expected to reach 127GW by 2027, up from an estimated cumulative deployment of 36.7GW at the end of 2023, according to a recent GlobalData report.
The report named Chinese companies BYD and CATL and South Korean companies LG Energy Solutions and Samsung SDI among the top battery technology providers globally.
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Ashghal seeks firms for sports facilities upgrade
10 October 2025
Qatar’s Public Works Authority (Ashghal) has tendered a contract inviting consultants to bid for post‑contract professional consultancy services for the upgrade and renovation of Ministry of Sports & Youth facilities in the south sector.
The assets include Qatar Bowling Centre, Al-Ahli Sports Club, Al-Arabi Sports Club, Al-Sadd Sports Club, Qatar Sports Club, Al-Wakrah Sports Club, Gharrafa Sports Club, Duhail Sports Club and Al-Khor Sports Club.
The notice was issued on 5 October, with a closing date of 26 October.
The contract duration is two years and seven months, which includes a 400‑day maintenance period.
The latest notice follows tendering for the construction of roads and infrastructure in the town of Smaisma.
The contract covers package two in the south area of Smaisma, located 52 kilometres (km) north of Hamad International airport.
Market overview
After 2019, there was a consistent year-on-year decline in contract awards in Qatar’s construction and transport sectors. The total value of awards in that year was $13.5bn, but by 2023 it had fallen to just over $1.2bn.
In 2024, the value of project contract awards increased to $1.7bn, bucking the downward trend in the market in the preceding four years.
Of last year’s figure, the construction sector accounted for contract awards of over $1.2bn, while transport contract awards were about $200m.
There are strategic projects in the bidding phase in Qatar worth more than $5bn, and these are expected to provide renewed impetus to the construction and transportation market, presenting opportunities for contractors in the near term.
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Tendering begins for $1bn Sal Riyadh logistics centre
10 October 2025
Saudi Arabia’s Sal has started the tendering process for its upcoming SR4.2bn ($1bn) logistics zone in Falcon City, north of Riyadh.
The tender for the earthworks package was issued on 21 September, with a submission deadline of 7 October.
UAE-based Global Engineering Consultants is the project consultant.
Earlier this week, the firm signed a lease agreement for the project, which will span about 1.57 million square metres (sq m).
According to an official statement: “The lease will extend for 30 years, which is further extendable to an additional 15 years upon agreement of both parties.”
تعرّف على منطقة #سال الأيقونة اللوجستية في شمال الرياض والتي تجمع بين الكفاءة ونمو الأعمال، وتدعم توسع الأعمال من خلال بنية تحتية عالمية تعزز تكامل سلاسل الإمداد وكفاءة التشغيل.
للمزيد عن #وجهتك_اللوجستية: https://t.co/ktSUYOJuaF pic.twitter.com/xEllGf2oMP
— SAL (@SaudiaLogistics) March 18, 2025
The logistics hub aims to meet the demand for customised warehouses located near King Khalid International airport and the Riyadh Metro.
The project is in line with Vision 2030 and the National Transport & Logistics Strategy, which aims to support the kingdom’s logistics sector and enhance Saudi Arabia’s position as a global logistics hub.
Sal and Sela signed an agreement to develop the project in March.
GlobalData expects the kingdom’s construction industry to record an annual average growth rate of 5.2% in 2025-28, supported by investments in transport, electricity, housing and tourism infrastructure projects, as well as the $850bn-plus gigaprojects programme.
Growth will also be supported by government investments in rail, dams, industrial and road infrastructure projects.
The industrial sector is estimated to grow by 3.3% in 2025-28, supported by investments in the development of manufacturing, logistics, chemicals and pharmaceuticals plants.
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Oman tenders consultancy for dams and reservoir study
10 October 2025
Oman’s Ministry of Agricultural, Fisheries Wealth & Water Resources has opened bidding for consultancy services covering feasibility studies and detailed designs for recharge dams, artificial reservoirs and flood protection dams in Wilayat Mahdah, Al-Buraimi governorate.
The bid submission deadline is 16 November.
The selected consultant will conduct a comprehensive feasibility study for 10 proposed sites.
Based on this study, detailed engineering designs and tender documents will be prepared for five dams and three artificial reservoirs at priority locations to be approved by the ministry.
The projects are aimed at enhancing groundwater recharge, improving water balance and securing sustainable resources to support future agricultural expansion and investment in the area.
The work also includes the design of flood protection dams upstream of the Al-Rawḍah Special Economic Zone to reduce flash flood risks and safeguard planned developments.
In addition, the consultant will study drainage channels from the recharge and flood protection dams to the beneficiary areas. The total channel length is estimated at about 50 kilometres, the authority said.
Tender documents will be available to purchase until 27 October. A tender fee of RO300 and a bond equivalent to 1% of the quoted value are required.
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Eni restarts oil and gas exploration in Libya
10 October 2025
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The Italian oil and gas company Eni has restarted oil and gas exploration activities in Libya after a five-year hiatus.
Eni’s North African unit has resumed work on exploratory well C1‑16/4, located off Libya’s northwest coast, according to the National Oil Corporation (NOC).
In March 2020, Ensco’s 4005 rig began drilling the C1‑16/4 well and reached a depth of 1,012 feet before operations were halted due to the Covid‑19 pandemic.
Ensco’s rig has now been replaced with Saipem’s Scarabeo-9, a sixth-generation semi-submersible drilling rig of Frigstad D90 design.
The Scarabeo‑9 is re‑entering the well to complete drilling operations, aiming to reach a planned final depth of 10,520 feet, the NOC said.
The exploratory well C1-16/4 is situated in Contract Area D, previously known as MN 41.
It lies at a water depth of about 743 metres, approximately 95 kilometres from the Libyan coast and around 15km from the Bahr Es Salam gas field.
Eni’s return to upstream exploration comes in the wake of US-based ExxonMobil signing an agreement to return to the North African country.
On 4 August, Exxon signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the NOC in London.
Under the terms of the non-binding MoU, ExxonMobil agreed to conduct a detailed technical study of four offshore blocks located near Libya’s northwest coast and the Sirte Basin.
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