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Contractors get more time to prepare bids for Taziz’s Project Salt

10 June 2025

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) has allowed contractors more time to prepare technical bids for a project to build a cluster of three chemical-producing plants in the Taziz Industrial Chemicals Zone in Ruwais.

The three chemicals plants will produce ethylene dichloride, chlor alkali and polyvinyl chloride, and are part of a scheme known as Project Salt.

The project is among the main investments in the first phase of development for the upcoming petrochemicals derivatives complex by Taziz.

Adnoc has set a deadline of 15 July for contractors to submit technical bids for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) works on Project Salt, according to sources.

The following contractors, among others, are understood to be bidding for Project Salt, sources told MEED:

  • CAT Group (Lebanon)
  • China National Chemical Engineering Company
  • Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon (India)
  • Samsung E&A (South Korea)

The previous deadlines for contractors to submit technical and commercial bids for the project were 15 June and 23 July, respectively.

MEED reported in June last year on the award of front-end engineering and design (feed) contracts for the three chemicals production plants.

Germany-headquartered Thyssenkrupp Uhde won feed contracts for the ethylene dichloride and chlor alkali plants. France-based Technip Energies won the feed contract for the polyvinyl chloride facility.

The planned ethylene dichloride plant will utilise chlorine from the associated chlor alkali plant as its main feedstock, and will have a production capacity of up to 1.2 million tonnes a year (t/y).

Part of the ethylene dichloride output will, in turn, be used as feedstock by the planned polyvinyl chloride plant, which is planned to have a production capacity of 350,000 t/y.

Surplus quantities of ethylene dichloride and caustic soda from the chlor alkali plant are intended to be exported.

Taziz – a 60:40 joint venture of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) and Abu Dhabi’s industrial holding company ADQ – first announced the EDC, chlor alkali and PVC plants in December 2021. India’s Reliance Industries was named as the main investor in the chemicals plants at the time.

Reliance is understood to have pulled out of Project Salt and has been replaced by France-based Kem One, MEED previously reported.

Taziz Industrial Chemicals Zone

Since 2021, Taziz has attracted investments from several foreign investors for its planned chemicals projects in the under-construction Taziz Industrial Chemicals Zone in Abu Dhabi’s Ruwais.

Taziz has planned seven petrochemicals derivatives projects as part of the first phase of its industrial chemicals zone.

UK-headquartered Wood Group has performed the feed works on the seven projects, which are:

Anchor product

End use

Chlor alkali

Water treatment, metallurgy and textiles

Ethylene dichloride

Housing, infrastructure and consumer goods

Maleic anhydride

Piping, construction and heavy transport

Methanol

Energy, consumer goods and pharmaceuticals

Blue ammonia

Agriculture, apparel and energy

Isopropyl alcohol

Healthcare and cosmetics

Elastomers

Automobiles, adhesives, food production and storage

Chemicals production is a priority sector for Operation 300bn, the UAE’s industrial growth strategy.

The industrial strategy is being overseen by the Industry & Advanced Technology Ministry, which aims to raise the UAE industrial sector’s contribution to the national GDP to AED300bn ($81.7bn) by 2031.

In December 2021, Taziz secured agreements from eight UAE-based entities for investments in its planned chemicals projects in Ruwais. The agreements marked the first domestic public-private partnership in Abu Dhabi’s downstream oil, gas and petrochemicals sector.

ALSO READ: Local firms invest in Taziz industrial complex

In addition to the three chemicals plants planned under Project Salt, a joint venture of UAE-based Fertiglobe, South Korea’s GS Energy Corporation (GS Energy) and Japanese investment firm Mitsui & Company (Mitsui) has invested in a “world-scale” blue ammonia production facility in the Ruwais petrochemical derivatives complex.

The joint venture of Fertiglobe/GS Energy/Mistui awarded Italian contractor Tecnimont the EPC contract for the project last May. Construction on the facility started last June.

Separately, in February, Taziz awarded South Korean contractor Samsung E&A the main EPC contract to build the UAE’s first methanol plant in the Taziz Industrial Chemicals Zone. The value of the EPC contract won by Samsung E&A is $1.7bn, and the duration of works is 44 months.

The nameplate production capacity of the planned methanol complex is 5,000 metric tonnes a day, or 1.8 million metric t/y. Switzerland-based energy and chemicals company Proman is a joint investor in the methanol project.

Regarding infrastructure to support the various projects, Taziz awarded three EPC contracts totalling $2bn, in November, for infrastructure works at the industrial chemicals zone in Ruwais.

Abu Dhabi government-owned NMDC Group was awarded the EPC contract to build a chemicals port. Once complete, the port will facilitate the export of chemicals and fuels.

Singapore-based Rotary Engineering won the EPC contract for a chemicals terminal, known as Project Landing. The contract includes developing storage facilities, tank-to-jetty pipelines, jetty-to-tank pipelines, inter-site pipelines and liquid product storage. Taziz is building the chemicals handling terminal in partnership with the Netherlands-based midstream energy company Advario.

Abu Dhabi-based Al-Geemi Contracting was awarded the EPC contract to develop essential infrastructure for the 17-square-kilometre Taziz chemicals production site, including internal roads, security fencing and buildings.

Contracts have also been awarded for developing a centralised utilities facility for the Taziz Industrial Chemicals Zone, which will include power transmission, steam, cooling water and water units.

Adnoc signed an agreement with Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa) in June 2021 to develop the cogeneration power facility in Ruwais. In December, the partners awarded a $1bn contract to Kuwait-based Alghanim International for the project, and the contractor recently started construction of the facility in February this year.

Alghanim International, in turn, awarded a $67m sub-contract to Riyadh-based water utility developer Water & Environment Technologies Company (Wetico) for the comprehensive water facilities package of the cogeneration power facility, which includes the construction of a seawater desalination plant, demineralisation plant, condensate polishing unit and effluent treatment plant.

ALSO READ: Fertiglobe expects Rabdan final investment decision in 2026
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Indrajit Sen

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