Abu Dhabi Water & Electricity Company (Adwec) has received bids from consultancies for the technical advisory role on its planned 350MW solar independent power project (IPP), and is planning to meet bidders by the end of January.

The project owner will discuss bids and seek clarifications with consultants before the end of the month, according to sources close to the scheme.

Adwec received expressions of interest (EOIs) from companies for the main developer contract on 13 January.

The IPP will use photovoltaic (PV) solar technology. According to sources within the emirate’s power sector, the project owner is likely to split the work into two or more phases. The plant will be located near the town of Sweihan in the eastern region of Abu Dhabi.

The project will reassert the emirate’s position as a major regional player in the renewable energy market, since it started to trail others since it commissioned Shams 1 in March 2013, the region’s first utility-scale solar energy plant.

Following the tendering of the Shams 1 concentrated solar power (CSP) project, state-owned Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) initiated proceedings to develop the 100MW PV solar Noor 1 scheme. The scheme was originally tendered in 2011, with a projected completion date in late 2013. However, problems arose related to Masdar’s insistence on using 50 per cent solar panels of its own manufacture.

The prequalification process was reopened in 2014, and more than 40 companies submitted EoIs by the end of the year. However, with no further progress having been made, it appears Adwec has now been selected to lead the emirate’s next major renewable energy scheme.