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Dubai to announce Hassyan preferred bidder

10 August 2023

 

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State utility Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (Dewa) is expected to announce the preferred bidder for the contract to develop a planned independent water project (IWP) in Hassyan imminently.

“The preferred bidder could be announced before the end of the week,” a source close to the project tells MEED.

The project comprises two blocks of seawater reserve osmosis (SWRO) plants, each with a capacity of 60 million imperial gallons a day (MIGD).

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.

Saudi utility developer and investor 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 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 intends 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.

The first block is expected to be commissioned in October 2025, and the full 120 MIGD by April 2026. 

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.

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Jennifer Aguinaldo

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