The UAE will invite bids this month for desalination, power and pipeline projects worth nearly $1 billion, the UAE Offsets Group (UOG) said.

A total of 14 groups have prequalified to build a desalination unit with a capacity of 100 million gallons per day and a 100 MW power plant in Fujairah emirate worth an estimated $550 million.

It said 17 bidders have prequalified for a project worth about $400 million to build water tanks and a 180-km pipeline to carry water to the Northern Emirates and Al Ain.

Both two-year projects are aimed at easing water shortages and will initially be funded by the Abu Dhabi government, the UOG said.

"At a later stage, a foreign partner will be selected, in line with the ongoing privatisation of the power and water sectors in the country, to take a stake of up to 49 per cent and to operate and maintain the (entire) venture," it said.

Four bidders have prequalified for both projects, it said. They are South Korea's Hanjung, Japan's Marubeni Corp, Enron Middle East and Bechtel of the US with Germany's Preussag Wassertechnik. Prequalified firms must submit proposals by mid-March, the UOG said.