Abu Dhabi has tendered the front-end engineering and design (feed) contract for a major petrochemicals complex in the emirate’s Western Region, according to a government source.

Abu Dhabi National Chemicals Company (Chemaweyaat) expects to receive bids from feed contactors by the end of November for its Tacaamol aromatics complex in Ruwais.

The $20bn megaproject is forecast to represent a quarter of the electricity demand in Abu Dhabi’s industrial sector by 2030, a spokesperson from Abu Dhabi Water & Electricity Company (Adwec) said at MEED’s Abu Dhabi 2012 conference on 20 November.

The feed phase will be overseen by US-based engineering group Foster Wheeler, which won the project management consultancy (PMC) contract from Chemaweyaat in May.

The PMC contract also includes an option for Foster Wheeler to provide the same services for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) stage of the deal, which is expected to be tendered in 2014.

The Tacaamol project will convert more than 3 million tonnes a year (t/y) of naphtha supplied by a pipeline from Abu Dhabi Oil Refining Company’s (Takreer’s) nearby refinery in Ruwais.

Chemaweyaat plans to convert the naphtha to produce paraxylene, mixed xylenes and benzene. The scope of the project also covers supporting infrastructure, including an export tank farm, a jetty and loading berths.