Spanish companies Acciona and GS Inima, and French utility major Engie are in the race for bagging development rights for the Shuweihat 4 Reverse Osmosis (S4 RO) Independent Water Project (IWP) of Emirates Water and Electricity Company (EWEC).
EWEC confirmed receiving proposals from the three companies for the development of its new water project.
The S4 RO project is to use low-carbon intensive RO technology to desalinate seawater and supply up to 70 million imperial gallons per day (MIGD) of potable water.
The project is expected to enhance security of water supply in Abu Dhabi’s Al Dhafra region.
Othman Al Ali, chief executive officer of EWEC, said EWEC was accelerating the decoupling of water and power generation capacity with the adoption of state-of-the-art reverse osmosis technology, supporting its 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,” Al Ali said.
He said with the receipt of competitive bids for the project, the company will now move forward with the evaluation process.
EWEC received 35 Expressions of Interest (EOI) from potential bidders in October 2021 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.
Follow us on
