Abu Dhabi to invite bids for US$2bn power plant

The head of the Abu Dhabi Water & Electricity Authority (ADWEA) has said that the emirate is to invite tender bids for the construction of a US$2 billion power plant in March.

Reuters reported that Abdulla Saif al Nuaimi, director of privatisation at ADWEA said that the plant will have a capacity of 1600 megawatts and will help Abu Dhabi ramp up capacity to service its booming domestic demand for power.

"We have started the process of prequalification and we are targeting sending the request for proposals (RFPs) early next month," Nuaimi is reported by Reuters as saying.



"We expect to finalise selection of the developer by November this year, [make the] financial close by April 2011 and commissioning in summer 2013," he added.

The new plant will be constructed using the independent power project (IPP) model which allows foreign engineering and contracting firms to take a stake in the project.

The UAE is taking steps to deal with the huge boom in domestic demand for electricity. In late 2009 it was announced that a South Korean consortium had won a $40 billion deal to construct a number of nuclear power facilities in the Gulf state.