ADWEA invites bidders for 350MW Solar Project site visit

Abu Dhabi / WAM

The Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (ADWEA) and Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Company (ADWEC or the “Procurer”) announced that pre-qualified bidders for the 350MW Solar PV Independent Power Project located at Sweihan, in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi (the “Project”) have been invited to attend a two-day site visit and conference in Abu Dhabi in connection with the Project.
ADWEA and ADWEC also take this opportunity to formally announce relevant procedural details concerning the process set out in the Request for Proposals (RFP) provided to bidders regarding the submission and public opening of competitive proposals to develop the Project.
The Project will comprise, inter alia, the development, financing, construction, operation, maintenance and ownership of a greenfield renewable power generation plant of 350 MW of power generation capacity, together with associated infrastructure (the “Plant”).
The Plant will be located in the Eastern Region of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, near the town of Sweihan approximately 120 km east of the city of Abu Dhabi, and in the vicinity of an existing high voltage substation, to which it will be connected. The Project will be structured as an independent power project and will draw upon the contractual templates of the successful ADWEA I(W)PP programme.
ADWEA, ADWEC and their external advisors will conduct a two-day programme for bidders, beginning on May 30, in which Project information will be shared through a presentation, site visits and meetings with individual bidders. In the meantime, if any bidder requires additional information they may, in writing, request clarifications from ADWEC. In the interest of fairness, ADWEC will make all significant written clarifications available to all bidders.
ADWEA says in keeping with the sector’s commitment to maintaining and enhancing transparency, proposals shall only be submitted in person (no e-mail or facsimile submittals will be accepted) on September 19 between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. in the ADWEA auditorium.
Bidders are reminded in the RFP that the letter of conveyance and bid bond shall be sealed in a separate clearly marked envelope as per the RFP General Instructions to Bidders. Promptly upon the passing of the 12:00 p.m. (noon) deadline for submissions on such date, also in the ADWEA auditorium, a representative of ADWEA/ADWEC will read aloud the summary information for each proposal, including the pricing proposed therein. From the time proposals are submitted until after they are opened and publicly read, they will remain in the presence of ADWEA, ADWEC and their external advisors.
After this reading, no information relating to the evaluation and comparison of proposals and recommendations concerning the award of the Project will be disclosed to bidders or any other person not officially involved in such evaluation, comparison and recommendation, until the award of the Project to the successful bidder has been announced by ADWEC. These policies are part of the best practices developed and applied by ADWEA and ADWEC in the numerous competitively tendered and awarded I(W)PP projects.

ADWEA’s Director General, Faris Obaid Al Dhaheri, reiterated ADWEA’s commitment to promoting an open and transparent process throughout the tendering and evaluation process to ensure receipt of competitive bids compliant with the requirements of the RFP and that the water and electricity sector benefits from the contributions of the most qualified local and international participants putting forth the most credible bids for implementing the Project.

Al Dhaheri further indicated that in this regard and in keeping with the development of best practices, a rigorous pre-qualification process was implemented that applied equally to all bidders who expressed interest in the Project and as a result ADWEA and ADWEC expect to receive competitive and compliant bids.

ADWEC’s Managing Director, Mohammed bin Jarsh, says he looks forward to welcome bidders to the two-day conference in Abu Dhabi, which will give bidders the opportunity to engage with ADWEA/ADWEC on matters concerning the Project, to visit the site and to further understand the vision of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi in relation to clean energy generation.