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Acciona receives Saadiyat IWP award letter

27 February 2025

 

Abu Dhabi-based utility and offtaker Emirates Water & Electricity Company (Ewec) has issued the letter of award for a contract to develop and operate the Saadiyat Island independent water producer (IWP) project in Abu Dhabi.

Spain’s Acciona submitted the lowest bid for the contract in July last year.

It received the letter of award on 27 February, according to an industry source.

The planned seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) IWP is expected to have the capacity to treat 60 million imperial gallons a day (MIGD) of water.

Acciona proposed a levelised cost of water (LCW) of AED12.19166 ($3.319) a thousand imperial gallons (TIG), which is roughly equivalent to $cents73.1 a cubic metre.

The other bidders submitted the following prices: 

  • GS Inima (South Korea/Spain): AED12.4115/TIG
  • Engie (France): AED12.62119/TIG
  • Aqualia (Spain) / Orascom (Egypt): AED14.42924/TIG

US/India-based Synergy Consulting provided financial advisory services to Acciona for the Saadiyat IWP scheme.

The Saadiyat SWRO plant is the emirate’s fourth IWP scheme, following Taweelah, Mirfa 2 and Shuweihat 4.

The prices submitted for the Saadiyat IWP are higher than those submitted in 2022 for the Mirfa 2 and Shuweihat 4 schemes due to the inclusion of a new electrical facility in the project’s scope.

In February 2023, France’s Engie won the contract to develop the 200MIGD Mirfa 2 facility and offered to develop the plant for $cents48.32 a cubic metre.

Madrid-headquartered GS Inima won the contract to develop the 70MIGD Shuweihat 4 IWP, proposing an LCW of $cents56.43 a cubic metre.

When it was tendered in July last year, the original scheme – called Abu Dhabi Islands IWP –  comprised two SWRO plants, each with a capacity of 50MIGD, to be located on Saadiyat and Hudayriat islands in Abu Dhabi.

The project’s scope was eventually changed, resulting in the cancellation of the Hudayriat Island IWP.

As in previously tendered IWPs, the successful developer or consortium will own up to 40% of a special-purpose vehicle that will implement the Saadiyat IWP project, while the Abu Dhabi government will primarily hold the remaining equity indirectly.

In January this year, Ewec awarded the technical advisory contract for its next IWP. The planned Al-Nouf SWRO scheme will have a design capacity of up to 170MIGD, or approximately 772,835 cubic metres a day.

Austria-headquartered ILF Consulting Engineers has won the contract, industry sources told MEED.

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Jennifer Aguinaldo

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