Entrant: Hyder Consulting
Project owner: Ducab HV
Project contractor: Khansaheb Civil Engineering
Engineering consultant: Hyder Consulting
Architect: Holford Associates (now part of Hyder Consulting)

Description: The Ducab HV facility is the first dedicated high-voltage (HV) and extra-high-voltage (EHV) product manufacturing plant in the Middle East. The scheme has been developed under a joint venture between the Ducab group, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa), and Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (Adwea).

The facility cost $220m to build and covers a total area of 22,000 square metres next to Ducab’s existing cable manufacturing plant. It is capable of producing HV cable systems of up to 500kV. When commissioned, the plant will increase Ducab’s production capacity by about 15,000 tonnes of conductors.

The HV facility’s most prominent characteristic is a 40-storey tower housing state-of-the-art extrusion equipment designed to ensure EHV products are manufactured to the highest standards necessary to provide faultless service. The tower, thought to be the tallest industrial tower in the GCC, also contains a series of clean-room facilities to ensure there is no contamination of the critical cable insulation.