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• 
  Lowest bidder changes for Dubai Metro Blue Line

  22 November 2024

  

   

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  The team of Spain’s FCC, Beijing-based China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) and France’s Alstom has emerged as the low bidder for the Blue Line extension to the Dubai Metro network after revised bids were submitted on 21 November.

  The team submitted an offer of AED19.8bn after the project client, Dubai’s Roads & Transport Authority (RTA), asked bidders to submit proposals with alternatives to reduce the price.

  The consortium’s price is nearly 18% lower than its original base offer of AED24.1bn submitted on 8 October.

  The second-lowest price on 21 November was the AED20.3bn bid submitted by a consortium of India’s Larsen & Toubro, China’s Powerchina, the local Wade Adams and Hitachi.

  The third-lowest bid was an offer of AED20.6bn submitted by a consortium of Turkiye’s Limak Holding, Mapa Group, also of Turkiye, and the Hong Kong office of China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC).

  The RTA had received another round of updated offers a week earlier on 14 November. That time the Limak/Mapa/CRCC team submitted the lowest bid with a price of AED21.7bn.

  For the first round of revised offers on 7 November, the group of China Tiesiju Civil Engineering Group (CTCE), Egypt’s Arab Contractors, the local Binladin Contracting Group and Spain’s CAF submitted the lowest-priced revised base offer of AED22.2bn.

  The CTCE/Arab Contractors/Binladin/CAF group submitted the lowest base offer when the bids were first submitted on 6 October.  

  The design-and-build contractor for the Blue Line will be responsible for all civil works, electromechanical works, rolling stock and rail systems. After completing the project, the contractor will assist with maintenance and operations for an initial three-year period.

  The Blue Line will connect the existing Red and Green lines. It will have a total length of 30 kilometres (km), 15.5km underground and 14.5km above ground.

  The line will have 14 stations, seven of which will be elevated. There will be five underground stations, including one interchange station, and two elevated transfer stations connected to the existing Centrepoint and Creek stations.

  The scope of the contract also includes the supply of 28 driverless trains, the construction of a depot to accommodate up to 60 trains and the construction of all associated roads, facilities and utility diversion works.

  The detailed scope of work for the project includes:

  • Civil works, including detailed design and construction of architectural and structural components (including viaducts, tunnels and stations)
  • Design and execution of electromechanical works
  • Design, procurement and delivery of operation and control systems for rail, stations and facilities
  • Design, manufacturing and supply of rolling stock

  UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, approved the Blue Line extension project last year. In a post on social media network X, formerly Twitter, he said the project will cost AED18bn ($4.9bn) and will have a length of 30km, half of which will be underground.

  He added that the extensions will transport 320,000 passengers a day and serve a population of about 1 million people living in areas such as Festival City, International City, Rashidiya, Warqa, Mirdif, Silicon Oasis and Academic City.

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  Colin Foreman
• 
  Silk Road Fund to co-invest $2.8bn in Masdar projects

  22 November 2024

  China’s Silk Road Fund (SRF) has agreed to invest up to RMB20bn ($2.8bn) in projects alongside Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) in renewable energy projects across developing Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries.

  Under the agreement, Masdar and Silk Road Fund will establish a strategic partnership to pursue co-investment opportunities in renewable energy projects developed, invested in or operated by Masdar.

  China's BRI envisages connecting Asia, Europe, Africa and other parts of the world through a network of infrastructure and trade projects.

  Masdar’s chief executive Mohammed Jameel Al-Ramahi and Silk Road Fund chairwoman Zhu Jun signed the memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the planned cooperation at the recent Cop29 climate summit held in Baku, Azerbaijan.

  Masdar has significant investments in the Middle East, Central Asia, Southeast Asia and Africa, many of which are participants in the Belt and Road Initiative.

  The company said it will continue to invest in these regions as part of its strategy to reach 100GW renewable energy capacity by 2030.

  SRF’s renewable power portfolio totals more than 7,000MW in Belt and Road regions, including the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America.

  The UAE has been an active partner in the BRI since the initiative was launched and has already invested $10bn in a joint China-UAE investment fund to support BRI projects in East Africa.

  Photo credit: Pixabay (for illustrative purposes only) 

  https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/12972007/main.jpg

  Jennifer Aguinaldo
• 
  Kahramaa awards Facility E contract

  22 November 2024

  

   

  Qatar state utility General Electricity & Water Corporation (Kahramaa) has awarded a contract to develop and operate Qatar’s Facility E independent water and power producer (IWPP) project to the sole bidder led by Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation.

  According to a source close to the project, the project’s power and water-purchase agreement (PWPA) is due to be signed on 25 November.

  The Facility E IWPP scheme will have a power generation capacity of 2,300MW and a water desalination capacity of 100 million imperial gallons a day (MIGD).

  MEED reported in July that Sumitomo had submitted a proposal for the contract. It leads a consortium that comprises fellow Japanese utility developer Shikoku Electric, Seoul-headquartered Korea Overseas Infrastructure & Urban Development Corporation and Korea Southern Power Company.

  The developer consortium’s engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) partner is South Korea’s Samsung C&T.   

  The contract to develop the Facility E IWPP was first tendered in 2019. The three teams that submitted bids for the contract in August 2020 were:   

  • Engie (France) / Mitsui (Japan) / Yonden (Shikoku Electric, Japan)
  • Sumitomo / Kansai Electric (Japan)
  • Marubeni / Kyushu Electric (Japan)

  The original plan was for the Facility E IWPP to have a power generation capacity of about 2,300MW and a desalination component of 100MIGD once fully operational.

  Kahramaa revised the power plant’s design capacity to 2,600MW and sought alternative prices from bidders. 

  Kahramaa eventually cancelled and reissued the tender in September 2023. The current tender entails a power generation plant with the same capacity as initially tendered in 2019.

  MEED understands that the new target commercial operation date for the Facility E IWPP project has been moved to 2027. 

  The state utility’s transaction advisory team includes UK-headquartered PwC and Clyde & Co as financial and legal advisers, respectively, led by Belgrade-headquartered Energoprojekt as technical adviser.

  Facility E is Qatar’s fifth IWPP scheme. Completed and operational IWPPs include three projects in Ras Laffan – known as Facilities A, B and C – and Facility D in Umm Al-Houl.

  Awarded in 2015 and completed in 2018, Facility D was developed by a Japanese consortium of Mitsubishi Corporation and Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco). South Korea’s Samsung C&T was the EPC contractor.

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  Jennifer Aguinaldo
• 
  Masdar and Hassan Allam sign Egypt solar and battery contracts

  22 November 2024

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  Cairo-based Hassan Allam Utilities, Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) and Infinity Power have signed two power-purchase agreements (PPAs) with Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) for the development of two solar projects with a combined capacity of 1,200MW.

  The first solar project in Wahat will have a capacity of 900MW. The second solar plant in Benban will have a capacity of 300MW and include a battery energy storage system (bess) plant capacity of 720 megawatt-hours (MWh).

  Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and the UAE’s Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology Sultan Al-Jaber witnessed the signing of the PPAs. 

  In a statement, Hassan Allam said the facilities “are expected to play a critical role in reducing carbon emissions, supporting Egypt’s sustainability ambitions, and increasing the supply of clean energy in Egypt”.

  It will also be the first development to come on stream in the broader strategic partnership between Hassan Allam Utilities, Masdar and Infinity Power. The partners are looking to develop close to 11,000MW of renewable power generation capacity in Egypt.

  In May, the team signed a land access agreement with the Egyptian government for a planned 10,000MW onshore wind farm project in Egypt.

  The agreement gives the consortium access to a 3,025-square-kilometre area in West Sohag and enables it to conduct the required development studies, which will help advance the project to the construction phase.

  The agreement followed an initial memorandum of understanding signed by the consortium and Egypt’s New & Renewable Energy Authority in November 2022, and a land agreement announced in June of last year.

  Photo credit: Hassan Allam

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  Jennifer Aguinaldo
• 
  Jbic extends $51m loan to Suez wind farm

  22 November 2024

  Japan Bank for International Cooperation (Jbic) has signed a loan agreement of approximately $51m with Red Sea Wind Energy to finance the expansion of the Gulf of Suez 2 onshore wind farm project in Egypt.

  The original project has a capacity of 500MW, which reached financial close in early 2023.

  The expansion adds another 150MW, with the original leaders together extending a further co-financing totaling $106m.

  Red Sea Wind Energy, the project company that will build, own and operate the project, is a consortium of France’s Engie with a 35% stake, the local Orascom Construction, which holds 25%, Japan’s Toyota Tsusho Corporation with 20% and Eurus Energy Holdings Corporation with 20%.

  According to Jbic, the total loan of $106m is co-financed with the London-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and the Norinchukin Bank, and France's Societe Generale.

  MEED reported in September that the expansion will require an additional investment of roughly $127m.

  Japan’s Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (Nexi) has also agreed to provide insurance for loans extended by commercial financial institutions for the expansion of the Gulf of Suez Wind Farm 2 project.

  According to Nexi, it will provide cover for an approximately $35m loan extended by the commercial banks, as well as for the interest rate swap agreement guaranteed by Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC).

  The project company has been developing the 500MW onshore wind farm, located in the Ras Ghareb region facing the Red Sea, approximately 200 kilometres southeast of the capital, Cairo. It consists of 84 wind turbine generators.

  The 150MW expansion of the project entails the addition of a further 20 wind turbine generators, according to Nexi. 

  The project is expected to be completed by mid-2025.

  The consortium will operate and maintain the plant under a 25-year power-purchase agreement (PPA) with Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC). Egypt’s Ministry of Finance is backing EETC’s obligations under the PPA.

  Orascom Construction will execute the construction of the civil and electrical works for the wind farm.

  HSBC Bank Egypt acted as the working capital bank and onshore security agent for the original transaction, which closed in 2023.

  This project marked the first cofinancing between Jbic and EBRD since the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in October 2022 and the first joint project between Nexi and EBRD since an MoU in October 2020.

  MEED reported in March 2023 that Jbic had signed a loan agreement to finance up to $240m of the project.

  https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/12971255/main.jpg

  Jennifer Aguinaldo