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UAE's federal utility Etihad Water and Electricity (EtihadWE) has invited eligible consulting firms to register their interest in participating in a tender for a techno-economic feasibility study of a proposed UAE–India undersea power interconnector, it said in a statement on Friday.
The study aims to deliver a comprehensive, bankable feasibility package assessing the long-term technical, economic, and market viability of power exchange between the UAE and India.
This will include physical route surveys, evaluation of energy-exchange scenarios, cost–benefit analysis, grid-impact assessments, and optimisation of interconnector capacity through sensitivity studies, the statement noted.
The scope of work includes developing feasible interconnection options, defining design parameters and capacity, undertaking preliminary and survey-supported routing for the subsea cable, and identifying landing points and onshore transmission links in both countries.
Consultants will also be required to prepare refined cost estimates, supply-chain and execution schedules, legal and regulatory assessments, commercial frameworks, and risk analysis, as well as support the preparation of draft tender documents and technical specifications.
In addition, it will outline bankable financing, ownership, and operational structures, including revenue-maximisation approaches, and provide an implementation and operations schedule.
Interested parties are requested to express their interest by email to uaeindia.si@etihadwe.ae using the subject line: “Expression of Interest – UAE–India Subsea Interconnection.”
EtihadWE said expressions of interest must be submitted by email no later than 5:00 pm UAE time on 31 January 2026.
In June 2025, a Zawya Projects report, quoting a local financial newspaper, said India is planning to build undersea electricity transmission lines to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at a cost of 900,000 million Indian rupees ($10.5 billion).
In January 2024, Zawya reported that India and the UAE have signed an agreement to explore establishing grid connectivity between the two countries.
In March 2021, Zawya Projects had reported that the India-headquartered International Solar Alliance (ISA) is working with the UAE to study the prospects for a global grid connecting the solar-rich Middle East to markets across the world.
(Writing by SA Kader; Editing by Anoop Menon)
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