Dubai cancels seawater cooling tender

27 January 2010

Hassyan power and water plant to be part of private project

Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (Dewa) has cancelled the tender for a contract to build a seawater cooling system for a power and desalination project at Hassyan.

The decision comes after the utility provider scrapped plans for the Hassyan 1 power and water plant in early January. It has decided to build the emirate’s first independent water and power project (IWPP) instead.

Contractors that were preparing to bid for the cooling system contract say the tender was cancelled because the system will now be built as part of the IWPP project.

The tender was previously cancelled in late 2008, at the start of Dubai’s economic downturn. A revised tender was issued in January 2009. Bidders were asked to provide financing from export credit agencies and banks over a period of seven to ten years (MEED 11:1:09).

The potential bidders for the contract included Geneva-based Archirodon Construction (Overseas), Belgium’s Jan De Nul and China Harbour Engineering.

These companies may decide to compete for the project again, once a project company is established for the planned IWPP.

The IWPP project is still in the early stages of development. Dewa issued a request for proposals for consultancy services on the IWPP at the end of December. The deadline for bids is 22 February (MEED 6:1:09).

The winning consultant will advise Dewa throughout the project. This will include reviewing, assessing and advising the authority on the appropriate regulatory framework and IWPP strategy.

The new plant, also at Hassyan, will have capacity of 1,500MW of power and 120 million gallons a day of water – the same as the scrapped Hassyan 1 plant. Dewa will buy the output of the plant under a power and water purchase agreement.

The IWPP is scheduled to start operating in 2014, three years later than the original Hassyan 1 scheme.

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