State utility Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (Dewa) has selected Saudi utility developer Acwa Power as the preferred bidder for the contract to develop and operate its first independent water producer (IWP) project in Hassyan.

The Hassyan 1 seawater reverse osmosis desalination plant will have the capacity to treat 180 million imperial gallons a day (MIGD) and will require an investment of AED3.36bn ($914m), Dewa said.

Related read: Acwa Power outprices Taqa for Hassyan IWP

MEED reported in July that Dewa was undertaking bid clarifications for the proposals it received in May this year.

 Acwa Power submitted a levelised water cost of 38.9 $cents a cubic metre ($c/cm) for the base proposal of 120 MIGD for the contract. It offered 36.5 $c/cm for the alternative proposal of 180 MIGD.

Dewa disclosed on 23 May that Acwa Power had submitted the lowest bid. It did not reveal the offers made by the second bidder, Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa).

However, sources close to the project tell MEED that Taqa’s base offer was 42 $c/cm.

Dewa said at the time that it intended to select the preferred bidder for the contract during the second quarter of 2023.

The project is Dubai’s first IWP. Dewa initially set 28 March as the deadline for bidders to submit their proposals for the contract, before moving the final bid deadline to 22 May.

Dewa issued the request for qualifications for the contract in October 2022 and received statements of qualifications the following month.

The state utility qualified six international bidders and issued the request for proposals in December last year.

The project will be located within the Hassyan area, about 55 kilometres southwest of Dubai Creek.

In September last year, a team led by UK-headquartered Deloitte won the advisory services contract for the project.

The Hassyan seawater reverse osmosis complex forms part of Dewa’s strategy to increase water desalination capacity in Dubai to 750 MIGD in 2030, up from 490 MIGD. 

Dewa plans to produce 100 per cent desalinated water from a mix of clean energy and waste heat by 2030, managing director and CEO Saeed Mohammed al-Tayer has said.