At least 12 international engineering firms have submitted technical proposals to Abu Dhabi Polymers Company (Borouge) in the first round of bidding for an estimated $1bn deal to build the main supporting infrastructure for the third-phase expansion of the company’s Ruwais plastics complex.

The engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract covers buildings, storage and basic processing facilities, and and other utilities at the planned petrochemicals plant. This includes seawater cooling systems, chemical and oil product storage space, and the main buildings at the site.

The deal is part of Borouge’s plans for a third-phase expansion of its Ruwais facilities, called Borouge 3. Once the scheme is complete in early 2014, the company will produce 4.5 million tonnes a year (t/y) of plastics at the complex.

In July 2009, the company awarded a $1.07bn deal to Germany’s Linde to build a 1.5 million t/y cracker unit for Borouge 3. The cracker will break down ethane, a component of natural gas, into ethylene. Once completed, the cracker will be one of the biggest of its kind in the world.

Technical bids for the main polyolefins plant, which will convert ethylene and propylene into the plastics polyethylene and polypropylene, went in on 14 February, while engineering proposals for a low density polyethylene (LDPE) unit went in on 28 February (MEED 28:2:10).

Contractors bidding on the deals expect Borouge to ask for commercial bids detailing cost proposals in April and May.

Firms bidding on the offsites and utilities deal included:

• Fluor (US)
• GS Engineering & Construction (South Korea)
• Hyundai Engineering & Construction (South Korea)
• Linde (Germany)
• Petrofac (UK) / Daelim (South Korea)
• Saipem (Italy)
• Samsung (South Korea) / Tecnimont (Italy)
• Techint (Italy) / China Technical Consultants (Taiwan)
• Tecnicas Reunidas (Spain)