Exclusive: MoEI discloses pre-qualification requirements for PPP street-lighting project
The scope of work for the project includes financing, designing, building, operating, maintaining and the transfer of the street-lighting network
The UAE’s Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure (MoEI) has announced the pre-qualification requirements for a public-private partnership (PPP) street-lighting project in the country’s Northern Emirates. In a statement exclusive to Middle East Construction News (MECN), the ministry said the project includes the retrofit of the Federal Street-lighting Network in the Northern Emirates.
It explained that the project covers the 850km-long federal roads network in the region and about 30,000 luminaries that will need to be retrofitted into a sustainable smart street-lighting system that is adaptive to environmental and traffic conditions.
The scope of work for the project includes financing, designing, building, operating, maintaining and the transfer of the street-lighting network, it added. The ministry said that once completed, the project will enhance the quality of the federal roads network and improve safety levels.
In October 2021, the UAE’s MOEI said over 11,000 new residential units are under construction across the country and, in November 2021, the MoEI said it was building the UAE’s first 3D printed government facility.
In addition, by converting the network’s lighting systems to a sustainable smart system, the ministry estimates that will reduce the carbon footprint of the roads network significantly.
For the pre-qualification of the project, the MoEI said that it will begin by assessing the technical expertise of the investors and participants, as well as their financial health. Amongst the things considered will be the interested company’s annual turnover, financial performance, and its previous experience in the UAE.
The streetlighting project is planned to take 18 months to complete, followed by eight and a half years of operation, for a total contract period of 10 years, the ministry told MECN.
In September 2022, Abu Dhabi DoE revealed new policies to accelerate the UAE’s move towards Net Zero.
The sustainable street-lighting project is another indication of the UAE’s move towards shifting towards green energy and sustainable solutions to combat global warming and diversified energy sources. The country aims to achieve Net Zero emissions by 2050 via the UAE Net Zero by 2050 Strategic Initiative.
Earlier this month, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the MOEI and Engie Solutions to technically cooperate in generating clean energy projects on ministry assets, and to explore other energy-related CSR initiatives.
The MoU is said to be a recognition of the importance of increasing the share of renewable energy in the UAE’s energy mix, while it also aims to inspire innovation in the sector. The country began financing clean energy projects more than 15 years ago and is said to have invested over US $40bn into the sector to date. Current trends predict clean energy production capacity, including solar and nuclear, to reach 14GW by 2030, up from about 100MW in 2015 and 2.4GW in 2020.
