State utility Emirates Water & Electricity Company (Ewec) has announced it has received four bids for the development of the 3.3GW Al-Nouf independent power producer (IPP) project in Abu Dhabi.

Located within the newly established Al-Nouf complex, the facility will be the largest single-site, carbon-capture-ready, combined-cycle gas turbine plant in the UAE.

Ewec issued a request for proposals for the project last August. It received statements of qualifications for the contract in April 2025.

Earlier this month, MEED exclusively revealed that Aljomaih Energy & Water (Saudi Arabia) and Sumitomo (Japan) were among the bidders for the project.

The groups that submitted bids include the following three consortiums and one individual company:

• Aljomaih Energy & Water (Saudi Arabia) / Sembcorp Industries (Singapore) / EDF Power Solutions (France)
• Engie (France) / Korea Overseas Infrastructure & Urban Development Corporation (Kind) / Korea Western Power Company (Kowepo)
• Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco) / Etihad Water & Electricity (EtihadWE)
• Sumitomo (Japan)

As MEED previously reported, the project will follow the model of Abu Dhabi’s IPP programme, in which developers enter into a long-term agreement with Ewec as the sole procurer.

This involves the development, financing, construction, operation, maintenance and ownership of the plant, with the successful developer or developer consortium owning up to 40% of the entity. The remaining equity will be held indirectly by the Abu Dhabi government.

The project site was selected for its ability to accommodate both seawater-cooled power generation and reverse osmosis desalination technologies. The plant will have the capacity to support several utility-scale energy and desalination projects in the future. The facility is scheduled to begin commercial operations in the third quarter of 2029.