Dubai Electricity and Water Authority PJSC (DEWA) today received two (2) bids (from ACWA Power and Abu Dhabi National Energy Company PJSC). ACWA Power submitted the lowest water levelized tariff of 0.389 US Dollars per cubic meter for the Base Proposal of 120 Million Gallons per Day (MIGD) and 0.365 US Dollars per cubic meter for the Alternative Proposal of 180 MIGD for the Hassyan Sea Water Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) Plant. The project is DEWA’s first Independent Water Producer model (IWP) project.

DEWA has adopted the IWP procurement model for the Hassyan desalination plant following the success of the Independent Power Producer (IPP) model at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park projects. The 120 MIGD IWP Project is comprised of two blocks of 60 MIGD each, located within the Hassyan area on the Arabian Gulf coast in Dubai, approximately 55 km to the south-west of the Dubai Creek. The Project will be commissioned in phases, with 60 MIGD in October 2025, and the full 120 MIGD in April 2026, to meet future potable water requirements for the Emirate of Dubai.

“The development of the project supports the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to promote sustainable development.  We work to achieve the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 and the Dubai Net Zero Carbon Emissions Strategy 2050 to provide 100% of Dubai’s total power capacity from clean energy sources by 2050. We are building water production plants based on Reverse Osmosis (RO) which requires less energy than Multi-Stage Flash distillation (MSF) plants, making it a more sustainable choice for water desalination. By 2030, DEWA aims to produce 100% of desalinated water by a mix of clean energy and waste heat,” said HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA.

DEWA commenced the procurement process by issuing an Expression of Interest (EOI) on 11 August 2022 followed by issuing the Request for Qualification (RFQ) to twenty nine (29) interested bidders on 17 October 2022. Following a rigorous qualification process, DEWA prequalified six (6) international bidders to whom the Request for Proposal (RFP) was issued on 9 December 2022.

DEWA has commenced the evaluation of the current Bids received and aims to select the Preferred Bidder during Q2 2023.