Abu Dhabi Water & Electricity Authority (ADWEA) is expected to issue the developer request for proposals on Mirfa in late 2002, once a developer has been selected for its fourth IWPP, Umm al-Nar. A two-phase expansion of Mirfa is planned, which will see total installed capacity at the site rise to 1,500 MW and 100 million g/d.

The Mirfa plant was built in the early 1990s by Italy's Ansaldo Energia. Following the unbundling of assets owned by the former Water & Electricity Department (WED) in 1998, it has been owned and operated by ADWEA subsidiary, Al-Mirfa Power Company (MEED 13:8:92).

On the Umm al-Nar IWPP, ADWEA is preparing to receive proposals from international developers in late September. Eight companies and groups are prequalified for the project, which involves the successful bidder taking a 40 per cent stake in a new project company. The latter will purchase 70 million g/d of recently installed capacity at the site, and install 1,500 MW and up to 25 million g/d of new capacity (MEED 28:6:02).