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

Sewa informed companies that have been qualified to bid for the Hamriyah IWP contract that it is "currently finalising the RFP documents", although a timeline for the RFP's release has yet to be specified.

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 yet to issue 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).

MEED previously reported that Sewa is undertaking the prequalification process for the contract to develop the emirate's first IWP.

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.

CORRECTION: Spain's Cobra Tedagua and a team of Saudi Arabia's AlJomaih and  Oman's Sogex have been added to the list of prequalified bidders since the story was first published.