Dubai increases capacity of Hassyan desalination project

The contract for Dubai’s first independent water project (IWP) was recently retendered following the submission of bids in February

State utility Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (Dewa) has increased the size of the planned Hassyan independent water project (IWP) to 180 million imperial gallons a day (MIGD).

 

Energy & Utilities reported on 4 May that Dewa had retendered the project, inviting both of the original bidders to submit new proposals by 3 August. According to sources close to the project, the proposed site has been changed and the capacity has been increased by an additional 60 MIGD to 180MIGD.

 

Dewa received proposals for the previously planned 120 million MIGD Hassyan IWP on 27 February from two groups, with a consortium led by the local Utico and Ghantoot firms submitting the lowest proposal of $0.306 per cubic metre (cm). This was 3.7 per cent lower than the $0.318 proposal submitted a consortium of Saudi Arabia’s Acwa Power and Kuwait’s GIC.

 

The lowest bid was a world record low levelised tariff for a RO (reverse osmosis) IWP project.

 

Dewa issued the request for proposals (RFP) on 13 October last year after prequalifying 9 international bidders to participate in the tender.

The project is Dubai’s first IWP, with previous desalination projects having been tendered under engineering, procurement and construction contracts.

Dewa appointed the UK’s EY as lead and financial adviser for the project, UK-based CMS as legal adviser and Canada’s WSP as technical adviser.