The Dhabi Department of Energy has received seven consortia that bids for the Taweela desalination plant mega-project in Abu Dhabi, UAE. The bidders for the project are:

• ACWA Power;
• Suez International Power SA Dubai Branch (Engie), with Marubeni Corp;
• Sumitomo Corp, with Veolia Middle East;
• Valoriza Agua, with Utico FZC and IDB Infrastructure Fund II;
• Cobra Instalaciones y Servicios, with Orascom Construction;
• Acciona Agua, with Pal Group; and
• Suez International, with Sojitz Corporation and NV Besix SA

The Acwa Power of Saudi Arabia, along with its partner Abengoa, placed the lowest bid using the higher electricity tariff at AED8.26 (US$2.25) per 1,000 gallons (4.55 m3); or US$0.49 per cube. The next best bid under that electricity price was 4 percent higher from partners Engie and Marubeni at AED8.26 (US$2.248) per TIG.

The Abu Dhabi project, for reverse osmosis capacity of 200 million imperial gallons a day (909,000 m3/d) at Taweela power and water complex, will raise the emirate’s proportion of desalinated water produced by reverse osmosis from 13 per cent today to 30 per cent by 2022.