Emirates Water and Electricity Company (EWEC), the sole procurer and supplier of water and electricity in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, announced on Tuesday that it has received four proposals for the development and operation of a 60 million imperial gallons per day (MIGD), equivalent to 273,000 cubic metres per day (m3/day) sea water desalination project located on Saadiyat Island.

EWEC said in a press statement that it has received four proposals from Acciona Agua, Engie, GS Inima Environmental and a consortium comprised of FCC Aqualia and Orascom Construction for the development of the Saadiyat Island Reverse Osmosis (RO) Independent Water Project (IWP).

A total of 41 companies and consortiums submitted expressions of interest (EOI), while 19 companies and consortiums qualified for the Request for Proposal (RFP) stage after submitting statements of qualification.

The awarding announcement and the execution of the Water Purchase Agreement (WPA) with EWEC are expected to take place in the fourth quarter of 2024. 
The expected date for commercial operations is the third quarter of 2027.

Othman Al Ali, Chief Executive Officer of EWEC said the greenfield RO seawater desalination plant, the seventh such project in the company's portfolio, brings it a step closer to achieving its strategic goal of producing 90 per cent of water through RO capacity by 2030, and achieve nearly carbon-free water production by 2031.

By 2031, EWEC is aiming to reduce carbon emissions associated with water desalination in Abu Dhabi to less than one kilogramme per cubic metre.

In July, EWEC issued RFPs for the 2.5GW Taweelah C IPP, 400MW BESS IPP and the Madinat Zayed IPP.

(Editing by Anoop Menon) (anoop.menon@lseg.com)

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