Contractors are working on proposals by the end of July for the planned new 8 million imperial gallons a day (MIGD) desalination plant at the Dubai Aluminium (Dubal) site in Dubai.

MEED reported in June that the client, Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), had issued request for proposals (RFPs) to prequalified companies. EGA has set a submission date of 31 July for bids.

The client has appointed Canada’s WSP Parsons Brinkerhoff as consultant for the scheme.

Dubal is also considering expanding its captive power facilities by 450-550MW. The aluminium producer received up to 14 bids in 2015 for the expansion project.

Emirates Global Aluminum (EGA) profits halved in 2015 due to weak prices and a Chinese slowdown. EGA, which owns Emirates Aluminium (Emal) and Dubal, revealed in March that it made a net profit of $517.7m in 2015, down 49 per cent from $1.1bn a year earlier