SembCorp still ahead in Fujairah

12 June 2006

Abu Dhabi Water & Electricity Authority (ADWEA) is expected to select by mid-June the developer for the brownfield Fujairah independent water and power project (IWPP), following the submission of revised prices on 5 June by the two shortlisted bidders.

According to the unevaluated opening prices in the retender, Singapore's SembCorp Utilities is again the highest bidder with a price of $1,306 million, followed by Belgium's Suez Tractebel at $1,244 million. Once the ADWEA board makes a developer selection, it will be sent to Abu Dhabi's Executive Council for endorsement (MEED 26:5:06).

The repricing was called after ADWEA completed in mid-May negotiations with the shortlisted developers. The fresh prices came in below the original quotes, reflecting new conditions set by ADWEA on the tenor of the equity bridge loan and the operations and maintenance package. In the original pricing back in November, SembCorp quoted $1,343 million and Suez Tractebel $1,338 million.

The successful bidder will take a 40 per cent stake in a new project company that will acquire the existing 662-MW, 100 million-gallon-a-day co-generation plant and expand it on a build-own-operate (BOO) basis by 225 MW.

The advisory team on Fujairah consists of Germany's Fichtner (technical), HSBC (financial), White & Case (international legal) and the local Simmons & Simmons (legal).

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