Spain's Acciona has submitted the lowest bid for a contract to develop and operate the Saadiyat Island independent water producer (IWP) project in Abu Dhabi.

Abu Dhabi-based offtaker Emirates Water & Electricity Company (Ewec) received bids for the contract on 12 July.

The planned seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) IWP is expected to have the capacity to treat 60 million imperial gallons a day (MIGD) of water.

Acciona proposed a levelised cost of water (LCW) of AED12.19166 ($3.319) a thousand imperial gallons (TIG), which is roughly equivalent to $cents 73.1 a cubic metre.

The other bidders submitted the following prices: 

• GS Inima (South Korea/Spain): AED12.4115/TIG
• Engie (France): AED 12.62119/TIG
• Aqualia (Spain) / Orascom (Egypt): AED14.42924/TIG

The Saadiyat SWRO plant is the emirate’s fourth IWP scheme, following Taweelah, Mirfa 2 and Shuweihat 4.

According to a source close to the project, the prices submitted for the Saadiyat IWP are higher than those submitted in 2022 for the Mirfa 2 and Shuweihat 4 schemes due to the inclusion of a new electrical facility in the project's scope.

Last year, France's Engie won the contract to develop the 200 MIGD Mirfa 2 and offered to develop the plant for $cents 48.32 a cubic metre ($c/cm)

Madrid-headquartered GS Inima won the contract to develop the 70 MIGD Shuweihat 4 IWP, proposing an LCW of $c/cm 56.43.

When it was tendered in July last year, the original scheme – called Abu Dhabi Islands IWP –  comprised two SWRO plants, each with a capacity of 50 MIGD, to be located on Saadiyat and Hudayriat islands in Abu Dhabi.

The project’s scope was eventually changed, resulting in the cancellation of the Hudayriat Island IWP.

According to industry sources, Ewec is considering procuring a new IWP with a capacity of 90 MIGD.

The proposed location for the new projects is either Al-Nouf or Taweelah in the emirate of Abu Dhabi.

As in previously tendered IWPs, the successful developer or consortium will own up to 40% of a special-purpose vehicle that will implement the Saadiyat IWP project, while the Abu Dhabi government will primarily hold the remaining equity indirectly.