The Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (Dewa) has invited companies to submit expressions of interest (EoI) in the contracts to develop its planned clean coal and solar independent power projects (IPPs).

Dewa has invited firms to submit EoIs by 24 April for both contracts to develop the first phase of the 1,200MW Hassyan clean coal IPP and the 100MW second phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum Solar Park IPP.

Dewa is planning to sign the power purchase agreements (PPAs) for the IPP schemes by the end of 2014.

In February, Dewa appointed a consortium led by UK’s EY (formerly Ernst & Young) as adviser for the planned 1,200MW Hassyan clean coal-fired IPP. The clean coal project will be carried out in two 600MW phases, with the first phase to be commissioned in the second quarter of 2020, and the second phase in the fourth quarter of 2020, said Saeed Mohammed al-Tayer, managing director and CEO of Dewa at the time.

MEED recently reported that financial and legal advisers for the 100MW second phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum Solar Park IPP had been appointed. Netherland’s KPMG has been appointed as financial adviser and the UK’s Norton Rose Fulbright has been appointed as legal adviser for the planned solar project, which will utilise photovoltaic (PV) technology. The 100MW solar project is scheduled to be fully operational in 2017,said Al-Tayer.

While the current installed capacity of 9,700MW in Dubai was easily able to cope with the 6,500MW peak demand recorded in 2013, Dewa is pressing ahead with plans to boost the emirate’s capacity as demand for electricity is expected to grow by between 4.5 per cent and 5 per cent a year up to the opening of the World Expo event in 2020.

In addition to the two IPP projects, Dewa is planning to expand the capacity of its 2,030MW M Station power facility at Jebel Ali by 600MW. The utility is planning to award the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract by the end of 2014.