Dubai's state utility company has said that a large number of international developers have submitted bids to be involved in the third phase of the Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum Solar Park.

The tender for the project, an 800 megawatt power plant, was launched recently and has attracted solar heavyweights such Engie-Marubeni, SunEdison, ACWA Power, EDF-Nebras, FRV- Masdar, and Al-Fanar-Building Energy, DEWA said in a statement.

The winner is likely to be announced early next year.

The companies lead the list of international consortia that have submitted their qualifications alongside solar panel manufacturers such as Jinko Solar (with RWE) and REC Solar(with Viverdis), the utility company added.

New entrants such as M+W & Stumpf Energy, Tetratech and Acciona-Swicorp have also thrown their names into the hat.

Unlike last year's 100MW prequalification round, DEWA said it has set very stringent qualification criteria for this 800MW tender, both technical and financial, adding that it is expected to take a 60 percent share in the project company.

As a result, whereas 49 companies submitted documents for last year's Phase 2 tender, it is believed that around 20 companies have submitted responses for the Phase 3 tender.

"This reflects the fact that Phase 3 is much more ambitious and large-scale, with only a handful of companies being able to satisfy the criteria set by DEWA," the statement said.