EWEC (Emirates Water and Electricity Company), a leading company in the integrated coordination of planning, purchasing and supplying of water and electricity across the UAE, invited developers or developer consortiums to submit an Expression of Interest for the development of Shuweihat S4 Reverse Osmosis (RO) Independent Water Project.
The Shuweihat S4 RO project will see desalination of seawater using RO technology to supply 70 million gallons of water per day, enhancing the security of potable water supply predominantly in the Al Dhafra Region in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. Additionally, the plant will play a key role in the ongoing cost reduction initiatives in the sector through the procurement of competitive and efficient RO seawater desalination technology as part of EWEC’s wider strategic initiative of decoupling power and water generation capacity.
Othman Al Ali, Chief Executive Officer of EWEC, said: “As we recently announced in our Statement of Future Capacity Requirements Summary Report, RO seawater desalination is a key strategic pillar in our ongoing plans to decouple water and electricity generation, and reduce the overall cost of production by increasing the reserve margin of installed desalination capacity. In addition, the extremely low energy-intensive technology of RO can significantly contribute to enhancing the diversification of energy sources while supporting the nation’s carbon reduction targets.”
The Shuweihat S4 RO project will be located adjacent to the existing Shuweihat S3 IPP Project, within the Shuweihat power and water complex, approximately 250km west of the city of Abu Dhabi, and involve the development, financing, construction, operation, maintenance, and ownership of a standalone greenfield RO seawater desalination plant with a capacity of 70 million gallons per day of water output, together with associated infrastructure. EWEC aims to achieve financial close by the end of 2022 with a target project commercial operations date by the middle of 2025.
The successful developer or developer consortium will own up to 40 percent of the entity while the remaining equity will be primarily held indirectly by the Abu Dhabi Government.
EWEC invites developers or developer consortiums to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) by the deadline of 4 November 2021 at 12:00 p.m. Gulf Standard Time (GST) for the first stage of the tender process.
