DUBAI, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Abu Dhabi Ports has awarded China's Cosco Shipping 600428.SS a 35-year concession to build and operate a new container terminal at Khalifa Port, the chief executive of the Abu Dhabi company told Reuters on Wednesday.

The terminal is expected to be operational in the first quarter of 2018, Mohamed Juma al-Shamisi said.

It will have a capacity of 2.4 million twenty foot equivalent units (TEUs), with an option to increase that to 3.5 million TEUs, Shamisi added without giving a value for the investment.

Abu Dhabi Ports is an Abu Dhabi government-owned company that runs Khalifa Port and the Khalifa Industrial Zone.

(Reporting by Stanley Carvalho and Maha El Dahan, writing by Hadeel Al Sayegh; Editing by Andrew Torchia) ((Hadeel.AlSayegh@thomsonreuters.com; +971566883310;))