The authority has appointed Germany's Fichtner as technical adviser on its Taweelah C scheme. Fichtner is currently carrying out preliminary studies. UK bank HSBC is the financial adviser.

Estimates for when Adwea will issue a request for proposals for the project vary. Some industry sources say it could issue a request as early as July, while others say it will happen in the autumn.

Based on Adwea's previous IWPPs, the project will have a capacity of 1,500MW of power.

Abu Dhabi needs 10,600MW of power by 2012.

The Taweelah C plant is well positioned to meet power demand from the Khalifa Port development. Its proximity to Dubai will also allow Abu Dhabi to export power to its neighbour easily.

However, the shallow depth of the Gulf off the Taweelah coast means the project will face problems with high water temperature and salinity.

Because of these environmental issues, the scheme will need new seawater intake and outfall systems, which will extend far out into the Gulf.

The Taweelah C plant is the fourth IWPP at the site, following the Taweelah A1, Taweelah A2, and Taweelah B plants.

In 2008, Adwea decided to go ahead with the Shuweihat 3 IWPP as its next project, but the utility abandoned the scheme to focus on overcoming its financing difficulties at the Shuweihat 2 IWPP (MEED 13:3:09).