Siemens wins AED600 million contract from TRANSCO to build high voltage substation on Saadiyat Island

The contract was signed by David Copestake, Managing Director, TRANSCO and Peter Fuchs, Chief Executive Officer, Siemens LLC. Also attending the signing ceremony was Her Excellency Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor and Her Highness Sheikha Lubna Al Qassimi, UAE's Minister for Economy.

The substation will provide the electrical supply for the Saadiyat Island development. Work on executing the project started at the end of December 2006, with the energisation of the project expected to be completed in 2008.

Saadiyat Island is a natural island measuring 27 square kilometres and located 500 meters off mainland Abu Dhabi. The island will be transformed into a tourism destination in three phases, with the final completion date set for 2018. By then, Saadiyat will house around 150,000 residents in 8,000 private houses, 38,000 apartments and 29 hotels offering over 7,000 rooms.

The total development on the island will be spread over six districts and is a cornerstone to Abu Dhabi's plans to develop tourism in the Emirate. Abu Dhabi currently sees almost one million tourists annually and expects to boost the number to three million by 2015.

The island's infrastructure alone will cost an estimated AED5.5 billion (USD1.5 billion). The substation will be the first of these projects and poses some unique challenges.

"One of our initial issues to solve will be the logistics of moving very large equipment to the island," said Peter Fuchs, CEO of Siemens LLC. "Saadiyat Island is a remarkable project, both for its scope and the nature of the development itself. We are very excited to be part of bringing this vision to reality."