Abu Dhabi Sewerage Services Company (ADSSC) is undertaking the bid evaluation process for the contract to design, build and operate a planned treated sewage effluent (TSE) polishing plant in Al-Wathba, Abu Dhabi.

MEED reported in February that five companies and consortiums submitted bids for the contract

Among those who submitted a proposal for the contract on 23 January are Spain's Acciona, UAE-based Tecton Engineering, and a team comprising Spanish contractor Abengoa and local contracting company Emarat Aloula.

Twelve individual companies and teams were prequalified to bid for the contract last year. They are:

• Abengoa (Spain)
• Acciona (Spain)
• Aqualia (Spain)
• Aquatech (local)
• Hydropower / BEWG (Germany)
• Metito / GCC
• Six Construct (local) / Veolia (France)
• Sepco 3 (China)
• Tecnicas Reunidas (Italy)
• Tecton (local)
• VA Tech Wabag (India)
• Orascom (Egypt) / Cobra (Spain)

MEED understands Tecton bid alone although it was initially expected to partner with Israel's IDE.

Sepco 3 is understood to have declined to bid for the contract.

Some of those prequalified to bid for the contract have formed consortiums before bidding for the contract, according to a source close to the project.

The plant is expected to have a design capacity of 700,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d), with the potential to expand this capacity to 950,000 cm/d in a subsequent phase, as MEED reported.

The TSE facility will produce water for higher-end applications compared to TSE produced in a standard sewage treatment plant.

It is one of the first major water treatment projects to be tendered by ADSSC in recent years.

Canada’s Stantec is the project’s technical consultant. 

First Step

Abu Dhabi has completed its complex AED5.7bn ($1.55bn) strategic tunnel enhancement programme (Step), the Middle East’s first deep-tunnel sewer network.

Developed to upgrade Abu Dhabi’s strained sewerage network, the majority of which was installed in the 1970s, Step consists of a 41-kilometre tunnel, starting on Abu Dhabi island and running south to the mainland, descending from 24 metres below ground level to a depth of 80 metres in some places.

ADSSC last year invited bids for contracts to rehabilitate Abu Dhabi's and Al-Ain's wastewater network infrastructure.

Water schemes worth at least $7.5bn are in the procurement and planning stages in Abu Dhabi, the latest available MEED Projects data shows. A further $1.1bn worth of projects within the sector is under construction.