State-owned Dubai Electricity and Water Authority has unveiled plans for a 1200 megawatt (MW) clean coal power plant and is seeking bidders to build what would be the first such project of its kind in the Gulf Arab region.  The utility has issued a request for tenders for the plant, which will be built in two phases to generate 600 MW each when completed in 2020 and 2021 respectively, a statement from DEWA said on Tuesday.

When fully operational, the plant will contribute 12 percent of projected output under Dubai's 2030 Integrated Energy Strategy, the statement added.  Given the Gulf's abundant oil and gas reserves, most power generation in the region is achieved through burning one of the two. However, Gulf nations are looking to diversify their energy mix to preserve such reserves for export, which generate significant sums for their economies.

Under Dubai's 2030 strategy, it aims to secure 71 percent of its energy from natural gas but also 12 percent each from coal and nuclear, with 5 percent from solar power.  The scheme is a revision of the Hassyan independent water and power project which the Dubai government cancelled last April, according to Project Finance International, a Thomson Reuters unit.

That plant, which was earmarked to cost $1.3 billion, would have been gas-powered and generated 1600 MW of power. A consortium including Abu Dhabi National Energy Co , Japan's Marubeni Corp and South Korea's SK E&S Co Ltd  said it had submitted the lowest bid to build the plant before it was cancelled. DEWA was currently looking to appoint advisers to the new coal-powered scheme, PFI added.