State offtaker Emirates Water & Electricity Company (Ewec) has extended the tender closing date for a contract to develop and operate the UAE’s first battery energy storage system (bess) project in Abu Dhabi.

Called Bess 1, the 400MW project will closely follow the model of Ewec’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 first plant will be in Al-Bihouth, about 45 kilometres (km) southwest of Abu Dhabi, and the second plant will be in Madinat Zayed, about 160km southwest of the city.  

Ewec issued the tender to prequalified companies on 25 July and initially set 30 November as the last day to submit proposals.

According to a source familiar with the tendering proceedings, Ewec has extended the last day of bid submissions to mid-January 2025. 

Ewec prequalified 11 managing partners that can bid either individually or as part of a consortium with other prequalified bidders. These are:

• Acwa Power (Saudi Arabia)
• China Electrical Equipment International (CEEI)
• EDF (France)
• International Power (Engie)
• Jera (Japan)
• Jinko Power (China)
• Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco, South Korea)
• Marubeni (Japan)
• Sembcorp Utilities (Singapore)
• SPIC Huanghe Hydropower Development Company (China) 
• Sumitomo Corporation (Japan)

Ewec prequalified 18 other companies that can bid as part of a consortium. These are:

• Abrdn Investcorp Infrastructure Investments Manager (UK)
• AGP Capital (US)
• Al-Masaood (UAE)
• Al-Fanar Company (Saudi Arabia)
• Alghanim International (Kuwait)
• Aljomaih Energy & Water Company (Jenwa, Saudi Arabia)
• Amplex-Emirates (local)
• ATGC Transport & General Trading (local)
• Amea Power (local)
• China Electric Power Equipment & Technology (China)
• China Machinery Engineering Corporation (China)
• GE Capital EFS Financing (US)
• Itochu (Japan)
• Korea Western Power Company (Kowepo, South Korea)
• Pacific Green (US)
• Samsung C&T (South Korea)
• Swift Energy (Malaysia)
• X-Noor Energy Equipment Trading  (UAE)

The planned facility is expected to provide up to 800 megawatt-hours (MWh) of storage capacity.

The ESA will be for 15 years, commencing on the project’s commercial operation date, which falls in the third quarter of 2026. 

MEED previously reported that at least two teams comprising infrastructure investors, developers and contractors have been formed and are preparing to submit their proposals for the contract.

According to Ewec, the bess project will provide additional flexibility to the system and ancillary services such as frequency response and voltage regulation.

Global bess market

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.