Dubai state electricity and water authority Dewa has issued a request for proposals (RFP) to nine qualified bidders for a 120mn gal/day (545,000 m3/day) reverse osmosis desalination plant. The plant will be built 60km southwest of Dubai city at Hassyan on the Gulf coast and is intended for start-up in 2023. Dewa says the project will be Dubai’s first desalination plant to be developed under the independent water producer model.

Dewa chief executive Saeed al-Tayer says “the project is part of Dewa’s strategy to increase the water desalination capacity in Dubai to 750 MIGD (3.41bn m3/d) from 470 MIGD (2.14bn m3/d).” This will be Dewa’s first desalination plant outside Jebel Ali, 35km southwest of Dubai City, where its eight existing plants were built alongside large power plants (MEES, 20 July 2018). (CONTINUED - 195 WORDS)