Abu Dhabi to sign power and water purchase accord

Abu Dhabi: The Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority will sign the PWPA (power water purchase agreement) next month with Singapore's Sembcorp Utilities for the Fujairah independent water and power project (IWPP), officials said yesterday.

Sembcorp's bid of $1.343 billion beat three other international bidders for the Fujairah IWPP, the sixth project to be privatised by Adwea. "Sembcorp is the top bidder for the Fujairah IWPP. There is one more meeting in early February and the signing would take place later in the month," a senior Adwea official told Gulf News yesterday.

"The final evaluation meeting will discuss some crucial points," he said on the sidelines of PowerGen Middle East Exhibition and Conference 2006 which began yesterday.

The Fujairah IWPP has current capacity of 656 megawatts of power and 100 million gallons per day of water. Sembcorp will take over the existing plant and add 225 megawatts. The estimated cost of the takeover and the addition of more capacity is put at $1.9 billion.

PowerGen Middle East exhibition begins

Over 150 companies are participating in the PowerGen Middle East 2006 exhibition and conference that began here yesterday.

Local, regional and international companies are eyeing the lucrative water and power sector in the UAE and the region where several new water and power plants are being built to meet soaring demand.

Abdullah Bin Mohammad Al Massaod, chairman of the National Consultative Council, opened the show.

A technical conference addressing key issues relating to the sector also began yesterday.