State utility Dubai Electricity & Water Authority has received proposals from eight firms for the engineering consultancy contract on the planned 250MW Hatta pumped storage hydropower plant project.

The client received 12 proposals in total, with four of the bidders submitting a main offer and an alternative offer. The bids were received on 15 February.

The lowest bid was received from Canada’s SNC Lavalin, which submitted a main offer of AED40.2m ($10.9m) for the engineering role. The Canadian firm’s offer was about 37 per cent lower than the second lowest bid of AED55.2m, which was submitted by France’s EDF.

The full list of bidders and prices, in order of main offers, is:

• SNC Lavalin (Canada): AED40.2m
• Electricite de France: AED55.2m (main offer), AED59.9m (alternative offer)
• Aecom (US): AED63.1m (main offer), AED54.9m (alternative offer)
• Tractebel (Belgium): AED66.6m (main offer), AED58.8m (alternative offer)
• Poyry (Switzerland): AED72.5m
• Mott MacDonald (UK): AED76.8m
• WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff (Canada): AED93.1m
• MWH (UK): AED115.5m (main offer), AED115.5m (alternative offer)

The project will use water stored in the Hatta Dam, near the Oman border, and will be the first hydroelectric facility in the GCC.

The existing Hatta Dam can store up to 1,716 million gallons of water. The project will involve the construction of an upper reservoir, which will be able to hold up to 880 million gallons. The upper reservoir will be located 300 metres above the dam level.

During off-peak hours, turbines will use solar energy to pump water from the dam to the upper reservoir.

The project will support the AED1.3bn ($354m) Hatta development plan, which was announced earlier in November. Under the plan, three main areas, including an economic and service zone, tourism and sports zone and a culture and education area, will be built in the Hatta area.

The Hatta development plan is part of the UAE’s 2021 Vision, launched in 2014.