Under the contract, Areva will take 18 months to complete the Bukadra substation and 24 months for the Jebel Ali facility. Areva was invited to submit an offer for the contract on the grounds that it is already working on a 400-kV substation project for DEWA on phase 1 of the Jebel Alipower and desalination project. It is understood that negotiations took less than a month from the submission of the offer to contract award.

A consultant has still to be appointed on the project. DEWA opened five bids in February for a consultancy contract covering the two new 400-kV substations, plus a planned extension to the Najma 400/132-kV unit, which was originally built by Austria's VA Tech. The low bid came from Belgrade-based Energoprojekt, followed by Germany's Lahmeyer International.

DEWA has also awarded a $30 million contract to Europe's ABBto design, manufacture, erect and commission a turnkey switching station and a 132-kV gas-insulated switchgear (GIS) substation to serve the Palm Jumeirah development. The 12-month contract also involves the supply and installation of 20 kilometres of 132-kV cable.

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