Dubai to tender metro extension in fourth quarter
28 April 2023
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Dubai’s Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) is expected to issue tender documents for the expansion of Dubai Metro in the fourth quarter of the year.
Known as the Blue Line, the scheme will extend the existing Red and Green lines.
The Green Line extension will commence from its current terminus at Creek station in the Jadaf area. It will cross over to the Dubai Creek Harbour development and continue through Ras al-Khor, International City, Dubai Silicon Oasis and Academic City before concluding near the Desert Rose project. The line will have 11 stations.
The Red Line extension will connect its existing terminus in Rashidiya to Mirdif City Centre and continue through Mirdif and Warqaa before joining the Green Line extension in International City.
The project was put on hold during the Covid-19 pandemic and reactivated in early 2022, when UK-based Atkins and Grimshaw, US-based Parsons and France’s Egis restarted design work.
MEED reported in October 2022 that groups interested in bidding for the project had started to form. They included France’s Alstom with Spain’s FCC and Beijing-based China State Construction Engineering Corporation; Germany’s Siemens with India’s Larsen & Toubro, the local Alec and Belgium’s Besix; and China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) with China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC).
Two billion commuters
Since its public launch on 9 September 2009, the number of riders who have used the Dubai Metro network has exceeded two billion, according to the RTA.
The Red Line has transported 1.342 billion commuters, while the Green Line has served 673.531 million passengers.
In 2022, the average daily ridership on the Dubai Metro exceeded 616,000 riders.
The extension is part of Dubai’s plans to improve residents' quality of life by cutting journey times as outlined in its newly approved 20-minute city policy.
The last metro project to be completed in Dubai was Route 2020, which connected the Red Line to the Dubai Expo site. The AED10.6bn ($2.9bn) contract to design and build the line was awarded to a consortium of Alstom, Spain’s Acciona and Turkiye’s Gulermak.
Dubai Metro has also significantly impacted the real estate market, particularly properties within a 15-minute walking distance from metro stations. According to a recent report by CBRE, these properties tend to outperform the broader real estate market in terms of both property value and rental performance.
Further extensions are expected to create new business opportunities for businesses and residents alike.
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Saudi Arabia’s principal buyer, Saudi Power Procurement Company (SPPC), has extended the bid deadline for the contract to develop a wind independent power project (IPP) under the sixth round of Saudi Arabia’s National Renewable Energy Programme (NREP).
MEED reported in March that the prequalified developers had formed consortiums and were preparing their proposals for the contract, the fifth wind IPP to be tendered under the NREP.
SPPC initially expected to receive bids by 15 May, but the deadline has since been extended to 23 June, according to industry sources.
The new deadline is likely to be extended again, however, one of the sources told MEED.
The consortiums that have been formed and will likely bid for the contract include teams led separately by UAE-based Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) and French firms Engie and EDF Renewables, sources said.
MEED understands that Beijing-based PowerChina and one of its subsidiaries are part of separate bidding consortiums.
Located in Riyadh, the Dawadmi wind IPP will have a capacity of 1,500MW. It is the only wind scheme and the fifth package under round six of the the NREP.
Four solar photovoltaic (PV) schemes, with a total combined capacity of 3,000MW, comprise the rest of the round six projects.
In addition to the firms cited above, SPPC prequalified the following companies to bid as managing and technical members of consortiums bidding for the contract:
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The following eight companies were prequalified to bid as managing members:
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Local firm bids low for Kuwait grid contract
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GE Vernova confirms $14.2bn Saudi initiatives
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US-based energy equipment manufacturer GE Vernova announced initiatives worth up to $14.2bn in Saudi Arabia, which coincided with US President Donald Trump’s state visit to the kingdom last week.
The initiatives aim to “accelerate Saudi Arabia’s energy transition with US technology and expertise”, the firm said.
The announcements include up to $2bn in backlog or on a reservation agreement as of the first quarter of 2025, with future contracts and memorandums of understanding (MoUs) for agreements spanning across the next four years.
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Petrofac oil bid in Kuwait is double proposed budget
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Petrofac’s bid beat that of India-based Larsen & Toubro, which was the only other bidder with a price of KD441.07m.
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Petrofac’s problems
Two weeks ago, Petrofac’s shares on the London Stock Exchange were temporarily suspended after the beleaguered engineering and construction contractor failed to publish its 2024 results on time.
This suspension was enacted at the same time that Wood, another engineering and construction company, was also forced to suspend trading in its stock because it was unable to publish its annual report by 30 April.
In March, Petrofac said that it would defer publication of its 2024 results amid its long-running restructuring process.
Earlier this month, Petrofac received formal approval from the High Court of England & Wales to implement its restructuring plan.
The company, which has billions of dollars-worth of projects in the Middle East and North Africa region, has said that the approved plan will unlock $355m in new funding for its operations.
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