Saudi Arabia's Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC) said on Sunday that the world's largest floating desalination project had started trial production in the Kingdom.

SWCC said in a tweet that the 50,000 cubic meters per day (m3/day) plant, the first of the three floating plants contracted for the project, would ensure continuity of supply and enhance water security in all regions of the Kingdom.

In December 2019, SWCC had awarded the 760-million-Saudi-riyal ($203 million) floating desalination plant project to the National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri) to build and operate three floating desalination plant barges of 50,000 m3/day capacity each for 20 years.

In a separate stock exchange statement on Sunday, Bahri had announced the start of trial commissioning of the floating desalination plant near the Port of Al Shuqaiq on the western coast as part of its agreement with SWCC.

The statement said the project is scheduled to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2022.

Though scheduled to be completed in the first quarter of 2021, according to a December 2019 statement filed with the Saudi stock exchange Tadawaul, Bahri has attributed the delay, in its statement issued on Sunday, to "Covid-19 constraints."

The statement also noted that the barges would be transported as per the needs of regions across the Kingdom and ensure consistently high availability levels and compliance with all applicable international and local codes and standards.

(Writing by Majda Muhsen; Editing by Anoop Menon)
(anoop.menon@lseg.com)

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