ADWEA to call tenders for new power and desalination plants

Abu Dhabi: The Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (ADWEA) will issue a call for tenders for a major electricity and water desalination plant in the first half of 2010, the authority’s privatization chief said today.

The project will have a minimum output capacity of 1,500 megawatts of electricity annually and pump 60-100 million gallons of water daily, ADWEA Director of Privatization Abdulla Al Nuaimi said on the sidelines of the Abu Dhabi Conference 2009. The plant is scheduled to enter operation in late 2013 or early 2014, he added.

The government plans to invite private sector participation amounting to 40 per cent of the project, while ADWEA plans to seek long term financing to implement its share, Al Nuaimi said. He declined to specify where the plant would be located or how much investment it will require.

“We are looking at several different locations,” Al Nuaimi said.

Abu Dhabi’s demand for electricity is expected to increase by at least 7 per cent through the year 2015, according to ADWEA.