Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) said on Monday that its 40 Million Imperial Gallons of Water per Day (MIGD) Seawater Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) desalination plant at the Jebel Ali Power Plant and Desalination Complex is 92.4 percent complete.  

The 871 UAE dirham ($237 million) contract for the brownfield desalination plant had been awarded to a consortium of Spain’s Acciona Agua and Belhasa Six Construct in March 2018.  

Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA said the project is on track to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2021 to meet the reserve margin criterion set for peak water demand. 

DEWA’s current desalination water production capacity is 490 MIGD with peak water demand of 378 MIGD.  

The utility has projected total desalination capacity to reach 730 MIGD in 2030 with SWRO’s share accounting for 42 percent or 303 MIGD from the current 13 percent.   

DEWA said the operational efficiency gained by decoupling desalination from electricity production will save the utility around 13 billion dirhams and reduce carbon emissions by 44 million tonnes by 2030. 

In November last year, DEWA had announced the selection of Ras Al Khaimah-based Utico as the preferred bidder to build and operate the 120 million gallons per day (MIGD) Hassyan SWRO Plant, the utility's first project under the Independent Water Producer (IWP) model.

(Writing by N Madhura; Editing by Anoop Menon) 

(anoop.menon@refinitiv.com

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