Abu Dhabi: The selection of the South Korean consortium to build the UAE's first nuclear reactors capped a process that started almost one year ago with 20 bidders that were narrowed down to three finalists in the last few months.
But the selection of the Korean consortium headed by state-owned Korea Electric Power Corp (Kepco) was not the only surprise.
The contract value came to just Dh75 billion, about half the amount most analysts thought would be needed to build four power plants.
Emirates Nuclear Energy Corp (Enec), the government entity charged with awarding and overseeing the project, said the value of the contract covers designing, building and "help to operate" the power plants, leaving room for another operation contract to be awarded, according to an analyst who declined to be named.
Speaking at a press conference following the announcement, Enec CEO Mohammad Al Hammadi said the contract covers the building and commissioning of the plants in addition to the "first few" fuel supplies.
Up till the announcement, analysts had favoured the French consortium because of France's experience in the field and close political ties with the UAE.
Others thought the American-Japanese team had the best chance again because of their record in the industry and close trade relationships with the UAE — both are among the country's top five trading partners.
In the end, the industry's largest contract ever went to the Korean consortium and the usually media-shy Enec spared little space in its press statement telling us why.
"We were impressed with the Kepco team's world-class safety performance, and its demonstrated ability to meet the UAE programme goals," said Al Hammadi.
"Additionally, the Kepco team dedicated a highly experienced team to our project and has shown a serious commitment to transferring the knowledge gained from Korea's 30 years of successful nuclear industry operation into the UAE programme."
Meeting with reporters after the announcement, Al Hammadi declined to discuss the other bids and only referred to them as "excellent".
Who's who in the winning consortium
Kepco: A majority government-owned utilities company listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The company now operates 20 nuclear power stations, all within South Korea, but is vying for nuclear power contracts in Turkey and Ukraine, according to a company statement issued yesterday.
The company now produces more than 60,000 megawatts to meet the needs of South Korea, of which almost 18,000 megawatts are produced by nuclear power compared to 4,000 megawatts via oil.
The rest is produced by coal and thermal power, according to company figures.
The UAE's nuclear energy contract will employ the services of four of its six subsidiaries: Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power, Korea Power Engineering, Korea Nuclear Fuel and Korea Plant Service and Engineering.
Hyundai Engineering and Construction: One of the largest construction companies in the world with nearly $7 billion (Dh25.7 billion) in revenues reported in 2008. The company's core activities focus on construction of housing, transportation facilities, roads, railways and power generation plants.
The company is traded on the Korea Stock Exchange.
Samsung C&T: One of the oldest South Korean firms established in 1938 with a dual focus on construction and engineering and trading of basic materials, textiles and machinery. The company is traded on the Korea Stock Exchange.
Doosan Heavy Industries: One of the largest South Korean heavy industries companies. The company has an established presence in the Gulf having built desalination plants in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Doosan is traded on the Korea Stock Exchange.
