A consortium of Spain’s Abengoa and Elecnor is now the lowest bidder for the planned waste-to-energy project in Dubai.

The Spanish group has replaced China’s Sepco 3 as the lowest bidder, following a resubmission of commercial prices. MEED had reported in April that Sepco 3 was the lowest bidder with an original price of AED1.18bn ($322m). However, this was before technical evaluation and the resubmission of commercial proposals. The Abengoa/Elecnor group had been the second-lowest bidder under the initial bid round.

The new ranking of bidders after the latest bid submission, which includes engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) components, is:

Seven bids had been received during the initial bid round.

The waste-to-energy project is planned to have a minimum capacity of 2,000 tonnes a day (t/d) and produce 60MW. The plant will be located at the waste landfill site in Warsan.

According to sources close to the scheme, the client had considered using a build-own-transfer (BOT) public-private partnership (PPP) model to develop the plant, but has decided to tender the scheme using an EPC model with an additional five years of operation and maintenance (O&M).

Germany’s Fichtner is the technical adviser for the WTE project.

The project is in line with Dubai’s Strategic Plan 2021 and the Dubai Integrated Energy Strategy 2030, both of which include a commitment to protect the environment and improve sustainability in the energy sectors. Dubai Municipality estimates the quantity of municipal solid wastes generated in the emirate in 2014 was 7,000 t/d.