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Expectation mounts as Dubai tunnels tender nears

20 February 2025

 

Prequalified firms have been speculating about the project structure that will be offered to developers; engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractors; and operations and maintenance companies for the first two packages of the $22bn Dubai Strategic Sewerage Tunnels (DSST) project.

"We are keen to find out if the client will be issuing a lease or licence," one source told MEED, adding that there has also been speculation about whether a sovereign guarantee will be issued, and by whom.

The tender for the first two packages of the DSST project is expected to be issued before the end of this month. 

Given the scale of each package and the capital expenditure required, it is also unclear whether the project client, Dubai Municipality, will require 50% committed financing for bid purposes, noted another source.   

At least four companies have been prequalified as lead members of potential consortiums that can bid for the contracts.

MEED previously reported that the firms that have been prequalified as lead members for the project's four main tunnels and links packages include Ajman-based Etihad Water & Electricity, a team comprising Japan's Itochu and Australian investment firm Plenary, and Saudi Arabia's Vision Invest.

Belgium's Besix is also understood to be among those prequalified to bid as a developer lead member.

According to industry sources, the Plenary-Itochu consortium will likely include South Korea's Samsung C&T and Italy's Webuild.

MEED understands that final partnering negotiations are still under way for the other teams.

The EPC team of Abu Dhabi's National Marine Dredging Company and India's Afcons Infrastructure, and separately PowerChina, are understood to be engaged in final talks with either the Vision Invest or Etihad Water & Electricity consortiums, although it has also been suggested that Vision Invest and Etihad Water & Electricity could bid as one team.

"There is a possibility of team consolidation due to lack of bankable EPC," one of the sources said.

The same source said that Japan's Marubeni and Saudi Arabia's AlJomaih Water & Energy might also still be considering bidding for the contracts.

MEED reported in October that more than a dozen companies were keen to prequalify as investors or sponsors for the planned public-private partnership (PPP) project.

They included:

  • Abrdn Investcorp Infrastructure Investments Manager (UK)
  • Besix (Belgium)
  • China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC)
  • China Railway Engineering Group (CREG)
  • China State Construction Engineering Corporation (China)
  • Itochu (Japan)
  • Nesma Company (Saudi Arabia)
  • Plenary (Australia)
  • Samsung C&T (South Korea)
  • Vision Invest (Saudi Arabia)
  • Webuild (Italy)
Six packages

It is understood that packages J1 and W will be tendered together as separate contracts first, followed by J2 and J3, with the requests for proposals to be issued sequentially, staggered about six to 12 months apart.

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

The other package, W for Warsan, comprises 16km of tunnels, TPS and 46km of links.

The overall project will require a capital expenditure of about AED30bn ($8bn), while the whole-life cost over the full concession terms of the entire project is estimated to reach AED80bn.

The investor prequalification process for the scheme comes after the client prequalified EPC contractors that can partner with the developers or investors to bid for the contracts.

The prequalified EPC contractors for the J1 and W packages, along with the J2 package, are: 

  • Acciona Construccion (Spain) – Dubai branch
  • Besix Construct (Belgium)
  • China Harbour Engineering (China)
  • China Railway Group (China)
  • China State Construction Engineering Corporation (China)
  • Daewoo Engineering & Construction (South Korea) 
  • Dogus Insaat VE Ticaret Anonim Sirketi (Turkiye) – Abu Dhabi
  • FCC Construcccion (Spain)
  • Archirodon Construction (Overseas) Company (Greece) / BESSAC (France)
  • China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation – Dubai Branch / Shanghai Tunnel Engineering Company (STEC) / China Railway 14th Bureau Group Corporation 
  • Gulermak Agir Sanayi Insaat (Turkiye) / DETech Contracting (local)
  • National Marine Dredging Company (local) / Afcons Infrastructure (India) / ITD Cementation India 
  • The Arab Contractors (Osman Ahmed Osman & Company, Egypt) / Darwish Engineering Emirates (local) / AqualiaMACE Contracting Operation & General Maintenance (local)
  • Larsen & Toubro (India)
  • Porr (Austria)
  • Power Construction Corporation of China (China) – Dubai branch
  • Samsung C&T Corporation (South Korea) – Dubai Branch
  • SK Ecoplant (South Korea) 
  • Strabag Dubai (Austria)
  • The Petroleum Projects & Technical Consultation Company (Petrojet) – Egypt
  • Webuild  (Italy)
DSST packages

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

In addition to J1 and W, J2 covers the southern section of the Jebel Ali tunnels and will extend 16km and have a link stretching 46km.

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

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

J3 will be procured under a design, build and finance model with a concession period of 25-35 years. Once completed, Dubai Municipality will operate J3, unlike the first three packages, which are planned to be operated and maintained by the winning PPP contractors.  

The project’s remaining two packages entail expanding and upgrading the Jebel Ali and Warsan sewage treatment plants. MEED understands that these packages will be procured at a later stage.

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Jennifer Aguinaldo

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