ABU DHABI - The Emirates Water and Electricity Company (EWEC) today invited developers and developer consortiums to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) for the development of Abu Dhabi Islands Reverse Osmosis (RO) Independent Water Project (IWP).

The Abu Dhabi Islands RO IWP project consists of two standalone greenfield RO seawater desalination plants to be located on Saadiyat Island and Hudayriat Island. Both plants will desalinate seawater using low-carbon intensive RO technologies to provide a combined total of approximately 100 million imperial gallons per day (MIGD), equivalent to 455,000 m3/day.

Together, the plants under the Abu Dhabi Islands RO IWP project will meet the water demand for up to 180,000 households in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

This project will become EWEC's seventh and eighth RO desalination plants once operational, advancing EWEC's strategic initiative to decouple power and water generation capacity, and supporting the decarbonisation of water and electricity production.

Othman Al Ali, Chief Executive Officer of EWEC, said, "Reverse Osmosis is a vital low-carbon intensive seawater desalination technology that enables EWEC to strategically change its water and power generation portfolio, and ultimately contribute to the decarbonisation of the energy sector. The Abu Dhabi Islands RO IWP project is the fourth RO project initiated by EWEC in the last four years, and once commercially operational will become the seventh and eighth RO plants in EWEC's portfolio.

"EWEC is proud to be leading the energy sector in making rapid and tangible changes to the water and energy production portfolio with a focus on sustainability, in support of UAE Energy Strategy 2050 and the UAE Net Zero by 2050 strategic initiative. We look forward to receiving Expression of Interest submissions from developers and developer consortiums to partner with us in our contributions to achieving Abu Dhabi and the UAE's sustainability goals."

The project will involve developing, financing, construction, operation, maintenance, and ownership of two standalone greenfield RO seawater desalination plants. The successful developer or developer consortium will own up to 40 percent of a special purpose vehicle (SPV), while the remaining equity will be primarily held indirectly by the Abu Dhabi Government. The SPV will enter into a long-term water purchase agreement ("WPA") with EWEC, the single buyer of power and water capacity and output in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

EWEC invites developers or developer consortiums to submit the EOI by the deadline of 30th September 2022 at 12:00 pm Gulf Standard Time (GST) for the first stage of the tender process. Interested parties are requested to submit their EOI via electronic copy to: ewec.adislandsro@ewec.ae Following a review of the EOIs, EWEC will issue the Request for Qualifications (RFQ) to proceed to the next stage. The RFQ will provide additional details regarding the project, pre-qualification criteria and the bidding process.