meed-logo

line1 line2 line3
SIGN IN / REGISTER

UAE utilities ramp up capacity procurement

4 October 2024

Abu Dhabi state utility Emirates Water & Electricity Company (Ewec) invited bids for contracts to develop three independent power producer (IPP) projects in rapid succession in the third quarter of 2024.

These projects comprise the 2,500GW Taweelah C combined-cycle gas turbine plant, the 1,500MW Madinat Zayed open-cycle gas turbine project and the 400MW battery energy storage system to be located in Al-Bihouth and Madinat Zayed.

They bring the number of Ewec’s electricity generation IPP projects currently under tender to four, in addition to the 1,500MW Al-Khazna solar photovoltaic (PV) IPP, which it tendered in April.

Ewec also issued the expression of interest notice on 1 October for a contract to develop the emirate’s fifth solar PV IPP, the 1,500MW Al-Zarraf project.

This robust project pipeline implies that the offtaker and developers, investors and contractors bidding for these projects have entered a hectic period compared to the past few years.

Abu Dhabi’s growing IPP pipeline will compete with Saudi Arabia’s equally robust pipeline for developers’ and contractors’ resources over the near to medium term as both states endeavour to meet their 2030 decarbonisation targets.

Abu Dhabi plans to procure 1,400MW of renewable energy capacity annually between 2027 and 2037 and to meet more than 50% of the emirate’s electricity demand from renewable and clean energy sources by 2030. This is expected to rise to 60% by 2035.

It also previously stated that it expects to reach a renewable energy installed capacity of 7,500MW by 2030, or three times its current capacity.

The expiry of power-purchase agreements for several generation assets over the next couple of years and the likelihood of these contracts not being extended also drive Abu Dhabi’s procurement programme for gas-fired capacity.

Dubai has a slightly different strategy. Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (Dewa) has abandoned any plans to procure additional gas-fired capacity in the foreseeable future.

Dubai’s future generation projects will be focused on the Mohammed Bin Rashid Solar Park, which is expected to reach an installed capacity of 5,000MW by 2030.

So far, Dewa has awarded contracts for the first six phases of the project, which have a total combined capacity of 4,600MW.

Further phases are being planned, with the state utility expected to appoint transaction advisers for phase seven, for which the capacity has not yet been made public, next year.

“The volume of projects coming to the market is almost unprecedented,” notes an industry source, who expects that utility developers are starting to be selective when bidding for new contracts regardless of the energy source.

Nuclear capacity

Notably, the UAE’s Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation announced that the fourth reactor, or Unit 4, of the Barakah nuclear power plant in Abu Dhabi reached commercial operations in early September.

It marks the completion of the $43bn, 5,600MW Barakah 1 project, which was jointly implemented by the UAE’s Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (Enec) and South Korea’s Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco).

The entire plant reached full commercial operations approximately 16 years after Abu Dhabi first announced the project in 2008 and 12 years after construction works commenced on Unit 1.

The completion of Barakah 1 also implies that the project’s next phase is likely to proceed in earnest.

Hamad Alkaabi, the UAE’s permanent representative to the Austria-based International Atomic Energy Agency, said in July that the UAE government is considering initiating the tendering process for its next nuclear power plant this year.

Apart from the final tendering process decision, the market is also keen to know who will be invited to bid or submit proposals for the contract to implement the nuclear power facility’s next phase.

Washington and Abu Dhabi entered into the bilateral 123 Agreement for peaceful nuclear cooperation in 2009, which could determine to a large extent which companies or countries will be invited to participate in the project’s next phase.

What the rush is about

Ewec has made clear that expiring generation capacities and the need for gas-fired baseload as more renewable energy enters the UAE electricity grid underpin its ambitious capacity procurement pipeline.

Other factors influencing future capacity procurement plans include the UAE’s multibillion-dollar national industrialisation strategy. This strategy involves expanding downstream industries, including clean hydrogen production for both domestic and export use, potentially resulting in an exponential increase in peak demand.

This is in addition to the need to decarbonise while expanding the production of hard-to-abate sectors such as the oil and gas, steel and aluminium industries.

In addition to these demand sources, many believe the UAE’s 2031 National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Strategy is a major contributor to Abu Dhabi’s ongoing generation capacity buildout.

“They need to build power-hungry data centres to support their AI strategy,” notes an executive with an international infrastructure investment firm with offices in Dubai.

The UAE’s AI strategy encompasses deploying AI in priority sectors and “providing the data and infrastructure essential to become a test bed for AI”.

Meeting these and the other stated objectives, in addition to the data sovereignty regulations, has started driving a boom in data centre construction across the UAE.

State-backed enterprises, utilities, banks, logistics, tourism and service industries, and real estate companies have launched or are expected to launch AI programmes to boost productivity and efficiency, in line with the UAE’s 2050 net-zero target and circular carbon economy strategy.

These span industry-specific applications ranging from chatbots and small-language models to generative AI and large-language models, the latter of which require significant data bandwidth and consume enormous amounts of energy.

AI applications in defence and national security are also presumed to be a major component of the overall AI plan. 

“The AI programme is progressing,” notes an Abu Dhabi-based utility executive, confirming a plan to procure 5,000MW of AI-dedicated thermal capacity.

https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/12650258/main.gif
Jennifer Aguinaldo

Register for MEED's guest program now to access this article.

Click here to register
Exclusive from Meed
Related Articles
  • Consortiums prepare bids for Al-Khairan phase one IWPP

    14 May 2026

     

    Two developer consortiums are finalising bids for the first phase of Kuwait’s Al-Khairan independent water and power producer (IWPP) project, the deadline for which has been extended to 1 June.

    The facility will have a capacity of 1,800MW and 150,000 cubic metres a day of desalinated water. It will be located in Al-Khairan, adjacent to the Al-Zour South thermal plant. 

    The project is expected to run on Low Sulphur Fuel Oil (LSFO) as the primary fuel and to accommodate crude oil, gas oil, and natural gas as backup fuels. Later phases will further expand capacity.

    The main contract was tendered last September. Three consortiums and two individual companies were previously prequalified to participate, with the following groups currently preparing offers:

    • Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa) / A H Al-Sagar & Brothers (Saudi Arabia) 
    • Acwa (Saudi Arabia) / Gulf Investment Corporation (Kuwait)

    The two individual companies, Sumitomo Corporation (Japan) and Nebras Power (Qatar), are now “unlikely” to submit a bid, according to a source close to the project.

    It is also understood that the third consortium of China Power, Malakoff International (Malaysia) and Abdul Aziz Al-Ajlan Sons (Saudi Arabia) is no longer bidding for the contract.

    The project is being procured by the Kuwait Authority for Partnership Projects (Kapp) and the Ministry of Electricity, Water & Renewable Energy (MEWRE).

    The Al-Khairan IWPP project is part of Kuwait’s long-term plan to expand power and water production capacity through public-private partnerships (PPPs).

    The winning bidder will sign a set of PPP agreements covering financing, design, construction, operation and transfer of the project.

    The energy conversion and water purchase agreement is expected to cover a 25-year supply period.

    Upcoming awards

    Kuwait is also preparing to offer a contract to develop zone one of the third phase of the Al-Dibdibah power and Al-Shagaya renewable energy project.

    In January, three consortiums submitted bids for a contract to develop Kuwait’s first utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) plant.

    The Al-Dibdibah power and Al-Shagaya renewable energy phase three, zone one independent power project (IPP) will have a total power-generating capacity of 1,100MW.

    MEED understands that the preferred bidder announcement will happen after the bid closes for zone two of the third phase of the Al-Dibdibah power and Al-Shagaya renewable energy project.

    The PPP authority is procuring the 500MW solar photovoltaic IPP in partnership with the ministry.

    The bid deadline for this project was recently extended to 31 May.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16835649/main.jpg
    Mark Dowdall
  • Bidders compete for new Dubai Metro line project

    14 May 2026

     

    Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access 

    Dubai’s Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) has held a pre-bid meeting for the Dubai Metro Airport Express Line with consultants understood to be competing for work on the project.

    It is understood that the RTA has requested firms to form joint ventures for the project. The firms that attended the meeting include:

    • Aecom (US)
    • Arup (UK)
    • ARX (Switzerland)
    • AtkinsRealis (Canada)
    • DB (Germany)
    • Egis (France)
    • Jacobs (US)
    • Mott Macdonald (UK)
    • Parsons (US)
    • Sener (Spain)
    • Surbana Jurong (Singapore)
    • Systra (France)
    • WSP (Canada)

    The consultancy contract covers the study and design of the Airport Express Line, which will extend from the Al-Garhoud area of the city to Al-Maktoum International airport (DWC) in the Jebel Ali area. The proposed line will stretch about 55 kilometres (km) and include five stations, providing passengers with facilities such as remote airline check-in, baggage drop-off and security screening.

    Consultants have been allowed until June to submit their proposals.

    The new line will run from the Red Line metro station at Dubai International airport through Al-Jaddaf, along Al-Khail Road to a new station at Jumeirah Village Circle (JVC) before continuing on to DWC.

    There will be two spur lines. The first will run from the new JVC station to the Al-Fardan Exchange metro station at Emirates Golf Club, while the second will branch out towards Business Bay, where another station will be built.

    The new line appears to follow a similar route to the Etihad Rail high-speed railway project, which is now under construction and due to be completed by 2030.

    Route 2020 extension

    The Airport Express Line scheme is the latest metro project to be tendered by the RTA this year. Tendering activity is already ongoing for the Route 2020 extension, which will start from the Expo 2020 metro station and connect to DWC’s West Terminal.

    In April, MEED exclusively reported that consultants had submitted bids for the project.

    The extension to the line will run for about 3km and will feature two stations.

    The existing Route 2020 metro link is a 15km-long line that branches off the Red Line at Jebel Ali metro station. The line comprises 11.8km of elevated tracks and 3.2km of tunnels, and has five elevated stations and two underground stations.

    The RTA awarded the AED10.6bn ($2.9bn) design-and-build contract for the project to a consortium of Spain’s Acciona, Turkiye’s Gulermak and France’s Alstom in 2016.

    Gold Line

    Dubai’s plans for its metro network do not stop with connecting the extension of the Route 2020 metro line to DWC. There are long-term plans for further extensions.

    In October last year, MEED exclusively reported that the RTA had selected US-based engineering firm Aecom to provide consultancy services for the upcoming Dubai Metro Gold Line project, also known as Metro Line 4.

    The Gold Line will start at Al-Ghubaiba in Bur Dubai. It will run parallel to – and alleviate pressure on – the existing Red Line, before heading inland to Business Bay, Meydan, Global Village and residential developments in Dubailand.

    The existing network includes the Red and Green lines of the Dubai Metro and the Dubai Tram, which connects Al-Sufouh and Dubai Marina to the metro network. The last rail project to start operations in Dubai was the Red Line extension that opened for Expo 2020.

    There are also existing and planned rail lines connecting Dubai to other emirates that are being developed and operated by Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Rail. These include passenger and freight services, as well as a high-speed rail connection.

    Blue Line

    In December 2024, the RTA awarded a AED20.5bn main contract for the Dubai Metro Blue Line project to a consortium of Turkish firms Limak Holding and Mapa Group and the Hong Kong office of China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation.

    The Blue Line consists of 14 stations, including three interchange stations at Jaddaf, Rashidiya and International City 1, as well as a station in Dubai Creek Harbour.

    By 2040, the number of daily passengers on the Blue Line is projected to reach 320,000. It will be the first Dubai Metro line to cross Dubai Creek, doing so on a 1,300-metre viaduct.

    > Be recognised among the best in the industry at the MEED Projects Awards 2026 …

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16833450/main.jpg
    Colin Foreman
  • Local firm wins $100m Kuwait substation contract

    14 May 2026

     

    The local Al-Ahleia Switchgear Company has won an engineering, procurement and construction contract for a $100m substation project in Wafra in Kuwait’s Al-Ahmadi Governorate.

    According to a source, the firm has been appointed as the contractor for the Wafra 2Z substation 400/132/33kV project, with construction scheduled for completion in January 2029.

    The contract was awarded by US-headquartered Chevron, which is undertaking its first major power project in Kuwait, according to data from MEED Projects.

    It is understood that contractor bids for the project were first submitted in 2023 by National Contracting Company (Kuwait), Al-Ahleia Switchgear (Kuwait), Imco Engineering & Construction Company (Kuwait) and Larsen & Toubro (India).

    The tender was cancelled in 2024, and a new tender was issued last year.

    In April, Al-Ahleia Switchgear won a contract to build a 400/132/11kV substation at the South Surra township for Kuwait’s Public Authority for Housing Welfare.

    The firm also recently won a separate contract in Oman for the supply, installation, execution and maintenance of a main power substation.

    The contract was awarded by Oman’s Public Authority for Social Insurance as part of its affordable housing project, known locally as Al-Masaken Al-Muyassara.

    According to MEED Projects, Chevron owns about $11.2bn-worth of operational oil and gas projects across the Middle East and Africa. It also owns four major power generation projects in Saudi Arabia, valued at $810m.

    > Be recognised among the best in the industry at the MEED Projects Awards 2026 …

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16832909/main.jpg
    Mark Dowdall
  • Al-Ain breaks ground on Four Seasons Saadiyat

    14 May 2026

    Al-Ain Asset Management has held a groundbreaking ceremony for its Four Seasons Private Residences Abu Dhabi project at Saadiyat Beach.

    Due for completion in 2029, the gated beachfront scheme will comprise 116 ultra-luxury homes with direct beach access. The unit mix includes villas, beachfront mansions, suites and penthouses, alongside a range of bespoke amenities and Four Seasons-branded services, Wam reported.

    Al-Ain Asset Management said the majority of the residences have been sold, and that AED250m ($68m) of new villa sales were recorded within one week, underlining demand for ultra-prime homes in Abu Dhabi.

    The developer added that the development set new pricing benchmarks for the emirate’s luxury coastal real estate, achieving prices above AED14,000 a square foot. Total sales have exceeded AED4bn since the project launched less than a year ago.

    The groundbreaking ceremony was attended by senior leadership and key partners, including Four Seasons, Killa Design and Mirage Leisure & Development. LW Design Group is also involved in the development.

    Al-Ain Asset Management is also developing another residential scheme on Saadiyat Island. The Vida Residences development will comprise apartment units geared towards long-stay living, supported by hotel-style facilities and operational spaces. Mimar Architecture & Engineering is working as the consultant.

    > Be recognised among the best in the industry at the MEED Projects Awards 2026 …

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16833035/main.jpeg
    Colin Foreman
  • Aldar acquires Dubai Studio City development

    14 May 2026

    Abu Dhabi-based developer Aldar has acquired a residential and community retail development in Dubai Studio City from Dubai-based developer SRG for AED1.1bn ($300m).

    The deal is part of Aldar’s long-term strategy to build a high-quality, recurring-income portfolio and to scale its presence in the city.

    Scheduled for delivery in 2028, the project comprises six mid-rise buildings with 312 homes, including one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments and duplexes. It also includes a community mall with retail, leisure and food-and-beverage offerings, as well as a 16,000-square-metre park.

    “Dubai is a priority growth market for Aldar, and this acquisition reflects our belief in the city’s residential market and the central role that institutionally owned, professionally managed rental housing plays in meeting the needs of a growing population,” said Jassem Saleh Busaibe, CEO of Aldar Investment. 

    “Dubai Studio City’s established infrastructure, vibrant community and strong connectivity make it an excellent location for a high-quality, professionally managed living environment. This transaction is the latest step in a deliberate and broadening strategy to build a diversified portfolio of income-generating assets in Dubai, one that we expect to continue growing as the city attracts increasing global interest and talent,” he added. 

    The transaction expands Aldar’s activities in Dubai across a range of property types. Aldar Investment’s recurring-income portfolio in the emirate now includes residential, commercial, logistics and mixed-use assets. Key holdings include a mixed-use joint venture with Expo City Dubai, a signature office tower in Dubai International Financial Centre, a Grade A office building on Sheikh Zayed Road, and logistics facilities in National Industries Park and Dubai South.

    On the development front, Aldar’s partnership with Dubai Holding continues to gain traction, with three master-planned residential communities already launched and a pipeline exceeding 2.3 million sq m of new gross floor area. 

    > Be recognised among the best in the industry at the MEED Projects Awards 2026 …

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16832033/main.jpg
    Colin Foreman