Dutch energy consultant Kema International submitted the low bid for the advisory services contract on Dubai’s 1,200MW coal-fired independent power project (IPP) at Hassyan.

Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (Dewa) received bids from eight groups on 22 October for the advisory deal. Kema International’s bid of AED4.95m ($1.4m) was just over half the price of the AED9.49m price submitted by Germany’s Envicon Plant Engineering, the second lowest bidder.

Dutch financial firm KPMG submitted the third lowest price of AED9.96m. The other bidders and prices are:

• Ernst and Young (UK), AED11.57m
• PWC (UK), AED12.74m
• Deloitte (UK), AED18.65m
• Booz and Company (US), AED19.7m
• Emirates NBD Capital (UAE), Latham and Watkins (US), AED29.7m

The clean-coal project will be carried out in two 600MW phases, with the first phase to be completed by 2020 and the second by 2021. The Hassyan site was also the proposed site for the gas-fired IPP, for which Dewa received bids for in December 2011, but announced it was putting the scheme on hold in April 2012 just as the preferred bidder was due to be announced.

Dewa is also planning to use the IPP model for the next phase of its Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum Solar Park. The utility has invited companies to submit bids for the advisory services contract for the 100MW independent power project (IPP) scheme by 4 December. The 13MW first phase of the solar park began operation on 22 October.

When completed, the Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum Solar Park is planned to have a total capacity of 1,000MW. Solar power is scheduled to contribute 5 per cent of Dubai’s power generation resources by 2030, as part of the emirate’s Integrated Energy Strategy. By 2030, the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy is also aiming for clean coal and nuclear power to each contribute 12 per cent of power generation, with natural gas remaining the dominant energy source at 71 per cent.