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Sharjah issues first independent water tender

4 April 2023

 

State utility Sharjah Electricity, Water & Gas Authority (Sewa) has issued the request for proposals (RFP) for the contract to develop the emirate's first independent water project (IWP).

The client expects to receive bids for the contract to develop the Hamriyah IWP by 1 August, according to a source close to the project.

In March, Sewa informed companies qualified to bid for the Hamriyah IWP contract that it was "finalising the RFP documents" without specifying an exact timeline for the RFP's release.

According to industry sources, the companies that have been qualified to bid for the contract include:

  • Acciona (Spain)
  • Acwa Power (Saudi Arabia)
  • Aljomaih Electricity & Water (Saudi Arabia) / Sogex (Oman)
  • Cobra Tedagua (Spain)
  • Engie (France)
  • GS Inima (Spain/South Korea)
  • Marubeni (Japan)
  • Metito

Sewa has not issued an official list of companies that can bid for the contract.

The proposed Hamriyah IWP will have a capacity of 90 million imperial gallons a day (MIGD).

The state utility issued the request for qualifications for the contract in October and received responses in November.

Sewa invited companies to express interest in the contract to develop a new seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) plant in Sharjah in May last year.

Sewa will procure the water produced from the plant under a long-term water-purchase agreement. It will also invest in the project company that will develop the project.

A transaction advisory team led by Netherlands-headquartered KPMG is understood to be advising the client on the project.

A 20 MIGD reverse osmosis plant already exists in Hamriyah. It is being upgraded by Metito, which won the contract in March last year to dismantle and replace the existing equipment and structure, renovate the SWRO system and implement additional membranes in eight skids.

More than $2.5bn-worth of water desalination plants are in the pre-execution phase in the UAE, excluding the two water treatment plants and related facilities being procured by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), data from regional projects tracker MEED Projects shows.

Abu Dhabi state utility Emirates Water & Electricity Company (Ewec) and Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (Dewa) are both expanding their water desalination capacity using reverse osmosis technology to boost the security of water supply as well as to promote energy efficiency.

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Jennifer Aguinaldo

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