Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) has received nine bids for the advisory services contract on the 100MW second phase of the emirate’s Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum Solar Park, which is being developed using the independent power project (IPP) model.

The nine groups submitted prices for the advisory mandate on 4 December.

The lowest bid was submitted by the US-based Tetra-Tech, which submitted a price of AED4.6m ($1.3m) for a 12 month-delivery period. The Dutch firm Kema International submitted the second-lowest price of AED5m, also for a delivery period of 2012.

The other bidders and prices are:

HSBC submitted two bids, and the Phoenix Solar (US)/RWE Power International (Germany)/ Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy (US) also submitted a discounted price offer of AED9.8m.

The first phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum Solar Park began operation 22 October. The 13MW first phase is the largest operating photovoltaic (PV) solar plant in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region, and will generate 24 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity a year. The project is powered by 152,880 photocell PV modules, connected to 13 step-up transformers. US-based First Solar was awarded the estimated AED124m contract to build the first phase of the park in October 2012.

When completed, the Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum Solar Park is planned to have a total capacity of 1,000MW. The park is scheduled to contribute 5 per cent of Dubai’s power generation resources by 2030, as part of the emirate’s Integrated Energy Strategy. The project is under the umbrella of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy and operated by Dewa. The solar park is expected to receive AED12bn of investment by 2030.