State utility Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (Dewa) has extended the bid submission date for the emirate’s planned 200MW concentrated solar power (CSP) project.

The utility has extended the bid submission date from 15 May to 5 June following a request for an extension from some of the bidding consortiums, according to sources close to the project.

The 200MW fourth phase of Dubai’s Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum solar park is the first CSP project planned for the park, with CSP technology planned to produce 1GW of electricity by 2030.

At the meeting, bidders discussed technical, financial and legal aspects of the 200MW independent power producer (IPP) project. Dewa has invited at least six prequalified groups to submit proposals by 15 May.

The groups prequalified to participate in the tender are believed to include:

• Acwa Power (Saudi Arabia)
• Alfanar (Saudi Arabia)/Suncan (China)
• Cobra (Spain)
• Engie (France)/Powerchina (China)/Sepco3 (China)
• Masdar (UAE)/EDF (France)/Abengoa (Spain)

In September 2016, Dewa awarded the advisory services contract for its first CSP project to a consortium led by KMPG of the Netherlands.

KPMG will be the financial adviser, and will be supported by the UK’s Mott MacDonald as technical adviser and Ashurst, also of the UK, as legal adviser.