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Dubai extends $22bn tunnels EPC package deadline

27 February 2024

Dubai Municipality has extended the deadline for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) companies to submit their statements of qualifications (SOQs) for the $22bn Dubai Strategic Sewerage Tunnels (DSST) public-private partnership (PPP) project.

Interested companies have until 28 March to submit their SOQs, according to a source close to the project. The new date is one month later than the initial planned submission deadline of 26 February.

This could imply that the announcement of prequalified EPC bidders, initially set for 11 March, will now be pushed to early April.

The client intends to start the prequalification process for the PPP consortiums that can bid for the project in the second quarter of this year.

In addition to its size, the project is gaining significant interest due to its unique procurement approach, whereby EPC contractors’ prequalification precedes developers’ prequalification.

“There is huge interest among EPC contractors,” notes an international contractor with regional headquarters in Dubai.

The bidders for each of the PPP requests for proposals (RFPs) will be prequalified consortiums comprised of sponsors, EPC contractors and operation and management (O&M) contractors.

MEED previously reported that the overall project will require a capital expenditure of roughly AED30bn ($8bn), while the whole life cost over the full concession terms of the entire project is estimated to reach AED80bn.

The project aims to convert Dubai’s existing sewerage system from a pumped system to a gravity system by decommissioning the existing pump stations and providing “a sustainable, innovative, reliable service for future generations”.

Two major sewerage catchments currently serve Dubai. The first, located in Deira, is called Warsan, where the existing Warsan sewage treatment plant (STP) treats the flow.

The second catchment, called Jebel Ali, is in Bur Dubai, where the wastewater is treated at the Jebel Ali STP.

DSST-DLT packages

Under the current plan, the $22bn DSST project is broken down into six packages, which will be tendered separately as PPP packages with concession periods lasting between 25 and 35 years.

The first package, J1, comprises Jebel Ali tunnels (North) and terminal pump stations (TPS). The tunnels will extend approximately 42 kilometres, with the links extending 10km. 

The second package, J2, covers the southern section of the Jebel Ali tunnels, which will extend 16km, with a link stretching 46km.

W for Warsan, the third package, comprises 16km of tunnels, TPS and 46km of links.

J3, the fourth package, comprises 129km of links, which will be operated by Dubai Municipality once completed, unlike the first three packages, which are envisaged to be operated and maintained by the winning PPP contractors.  

J1, J2 and W will be procured under a design-build-finance-operate-maintain model with a concession period between 25 and 35 years.

J3 will be procured under a design-build-finance model with a concession period of 25-35 years.

J1, J2, W and J3 will comprise the deep sewerage tunnels, links and TPS (DLT) components of the overall project.

MEED understands the remaining two packages of the project, the expansion and upgrade of the Jebel Ali and Warsan STPs, will be procured in a process separate from the four DSST-DLT components of the project.

The RFPs for the four DSST-DLT packages will likely be issued in sequential order on a staggered basis around six to 12 months apart.

Dubai Municipality appointed advisers for the overall scheme last year. It selected Abu Dhabi-headquartered Tribe Infrastructure Group as lead and financial adviser, UK-based Ashurst as legal adviser and the US’ Parsons as technical adviser.

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Jennifer Aguinaldo

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