The first phase of the project, with capacity of 120 million gallons a day (g/d) of desalinated water and 1,500MW of power, was retendered after Dewa deemed prices submitted by bidders on 30 April too high. The new deadline for bids is 8 July.

The second phase of the plant, which will have the same power generation capacity and a desalination capacity of 100-120 million g/d, has yet to be retendered.

"It is being reviewed by management,” says a Dewa source. “We could postpone it by a year.”

Dewa said it received a total of nine bids for the phase 1 and phase 2 plants. This included five bids for the power islands and four for the desalination islands. The bidders included Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction, Hyundai Engineering & Construction and Hyundai Heavy Industries, all of South Korea (MEED 2:5:08).

Both phases of the plant were originally due to be commissioned in stages from 2011-2012.