Dubai delays Hassyan power and desalination project

Construction of the US$ 8.6 billion Hassyan power and desalination plant in Dubai will now not start before April 2010, according to reports from the UAE on 16 February 2009.

Saeed Mohammed Al-Tayer, managing director and CEO of the Dubai Electricity & Water Authority, is quoted as saying that the bidding process would be delayed for at least 8 months. The reason, said Al-Tayer, is that the emirate still has sufficient surplus and reserves.

The Hassyan desalination project would be a 455,000-545,000 m³/d multi-stage flash plant, which was originally tendered last June, but the deadline was extended beyond the December 2008 date originally stated. The power station would generate 1500 MW.