US-based industrial automation company Rockwell Automation announced on Tuesday that it has delivered medium-voltage, variable-frequency drive (VFD) solutions for Umm Al Quwain (UAQ) Seawater Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) desalination plant in the UAE.

The 150 million imperial gallons a day (MIGD) plant is the largest desalination project in the Northern Emirates, and supplies state-owned Etihad water and Electricity(EtihadWE).

SIDEM, a subsidiary of Veolia Water Technologies, oversaw engineering and procurement for the project while Chinese partner Gezhouba Group International Engineering undertook the construction.

The plant comprises an open seawater intake, a seawater pumping station, three pre-treatment units with DAF and DMGF, three reverse osmosis units, a wastewater treatment plant, and drinking water storage tanks.

SIDEM chose PowerFlex 6000 medium-voltage inverter solutions to drive the 80 main motors of the seawater treatment process, said Thierry Ballot, Strategic Account Manager at Rockwell Automation.

These solutions can reduce peak demand charges by operating near unity power factor throughout the speed range and includes an integrally mounted, multi-pulse isolation transformer to help ensure low line side harmonics and high input power factor, the company’s press statement said.

The UAQ desalination plant forms an integral part of the UAE Water Security Strategy 2036 strategy, one of its objectives being to enhance the efficiency of the country’s water network. The overall objectives of the strategy are to reduce total demand for water resources by 21 percent, increase the water productivity index to $110 per cubic metre, reduce the water scarcity index by three degrees, increase the reuse of treated water to 95 percent, and increase national strategic water storage capacity to two days.

(Writing by P Deol; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@lseg.com)