EWEC (Emirates Water and Electricity Company), a leading company in the integrated coordination of planning, purchasing, and supply of water and electricity across the UAE, announced the receipt of three proposals from Acciona, Engie, and GS Inima, for the development of its new Shuweihat 4 Reverse Osmosis (S4 RO) Independent Water Project (IWP).

The S4 RO project will use low-carbon intensive RO technology to desalinate seawater and supply up to 70 million imperial gallons per day (MIGD), equivalent to 318,225 cubic metres per day, of potable water, enhancing the security of water supply in Abu Dhabi’s Al Dhafra region. Additionally, the plant will be instrumental in ensuring an optimised and efficient water supply through the procurement of competitive RO technology.

The Expression of Interest (EOI) stage that took place in October 2021

Othman Al Ali, Chief Executive Officer of EWEC, said: “EWEC is accelerating the decoupling of water and power generation capacity with the adoption of state-of-the-art reverse osmosis technology, supporting our strategic goal to reduce our system’s carbon footprint. The S4 RO water desalination project will play a key role in ensuring both security of water supply as well as reducing CO2 emissions, actively supporting the UAE Net Zero by 2050 strategic initiative. We are pleased to have received competitive bids for the project and will now move forward with our evaluation process.”

The Expression of Interest (EOI) stage that took place in October 2021, EWEC received a total of 35 EOI from potential bidders for the project. The Request for Proposal was issued to bidders that had passed the qualification process in March 2022, with 18 qualified to bid for the project after submitting Statements of Qualification.

Following the submissions, the proposals will undergo a detailed technical and commercial evaluation process to select the best proposal. The awarding announcement and the execution of the Water Purchase Agreement are expected to take place by Q1 2023. The S4 RO project has a target commercial operations date of Q3 2025.