DEWA has attracted a large group of international developers for its much-anticipated Phase III 800MW Solar PV tender.

Solar IPP heavyweights such Engie-Marubeni, SunEdison, ACWA Power, EDF-Nebras, FRV- Masdar, as well as Al-Fanar-Building Energy lead the list of international consortia that have submitted their qualifications as part of the RFQ phase of this tender. Leading solar panel manufacturers such as Jinko Solar (with RWE) and REC Solar(with Viverdis) have also jumped into the competition.

New entrants such as M+W & Stumpf Energy, Tetratech and Acciona-Swicorp are also throwing their names into the hat.

Unlike last year’s 100MW prequalification round, DEWA has set very stringent qualification criteria for this 800MW tender, both technical and financial, to reflect the strategic nature of this landmark project. DEWA is expected to take a 60% share in the project company.

Whereas 49 companies submitted RFQ documents for last year’s Phase II tender (200MW), it is believed that around 20 companies have submitted responses for the Phase III tender. This reflects the fact that Phase III is much more ambitious and large-scale, with only a handful of companies being able to satisfy the criteria set by DEWA.

The RFP round of this tender is expected to be unveiled in early 2016.