The newly established Emirates Water & Electricity Company (Ewec) has received expressions of interest (EOI) for the planned F3 independent power project (IPP) in Fujairah.

MEED reported in November that consultants had submitted proposals for work on the planned gas-turbine F3 IPP. The client set a deadline of 10 February for EOI submissions.

The F3 plant will have a generation capacity of 2,200MW, and will be located at the Fujairah power and water complex, 302 kilometres north of Abu Dhabi.

The selected developer will own up to 40 per cent of a special purpose vehicle (SPV) company set up to develop and operate the plant.

Ewec was established by royal decree on 28 November to replace Abu Dhabi Water & Electricity Company (Adwec) as part of plans to unify water production and power generation between Abu Dhabi and the Northern Emirates. The new company falls under the umbrella of Abu Dhabi Power Corporation.

According to a statement issued on state news website Wam at the time, the establishment of Ewec will pave the way for the Federal Electricity & Water Authority (Fewa), provider of utilities for the Northern Emirates, to join the new company with the “objective of unifying water production and power generation efforts in Abu Dhabi and the emirates that are currently served by Fewa”.

According to the statement, work is under way to finalise bilateral integration agreements between Ewec and Fewa for the latter to join the new company. Once finalised, the new company will be responsible for distributing more than 80 terawatts of electricity and 1.2 billion cubic metres of water across the UAE annually.

The F3 project has been in the planning stage for a number of years. MEED reported in April 2016 that an agreement to transfer the land next to the existing F2 independent water and power project (IWPP) in Fujairah to Abu Dhabi Water & Electricity Authority (Adwea) had been completed, paving the way for the next utility project at the site.

The F2 IWPP, which has a power generation capacity of 2,000MW and a desalination component of 130 million imperial gallons a day (MIGD), was commissioned in 2011. The $2.8bn facility took three years to build. Adwea selected a consortium led by the UK’s International Power (now UK/French Engie) and Japan’s Marubeni Corporation to build the scheme in 2007.

In 2013, Singapore’s Sembcorp Industries awarded a contract to Spain’s Acciona to expand the desalination component of the existing 100MIGD Fujairah 1 (F1) IWPP project by 30MIGD. Sembcorp has a 40 per cent holding in the owner of the plant, Emirates Sembcorp Water & Power Company, with Adwea holding the remaining share.