International groups understood to be preparing bids for the 50 million-gallon-a-day (g/d) IWP include consortia headed by France's Suez Lyonnaise des Eauxand Japan's Mitsui & Company. Prospective bidders are due to be given in April more detailed technical information about the project.

The proposed plant will run on power supplied by existing capacity at the Taweelah complex. The RO plant will take advantage of spare power-generating capacity in the winter months, when demand can often be as low as 35 per cent of the peak summer demand. The water is expected to be used to meet agricultural demand in the Al-Ain area.

The UK's Mott MacDonaldis technical adviser to ADWEA.

ADWEA's other main focus is on the Umm al-Nar IWPP. The client is due to receive on 25 March formal prequalification applications from developers seeking to bid the project. The request for proposals (RFP) is due to be issued in mid April. The Umm al-Nar project involves acquiring 70 million g/d of recently built capacity and adding up to 1,500 MW and possibly 25 million g/d of new desalination capacity.