Dubai’s Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has chosen ACWA Power, a company from Saudi Arabia, to construct and operate the initial stage of the Hassyan seawater desalination facility. The Independent Water Producer (IWP) initiative, costing $914M (AED 3.36B), aims to achieve a capacity of 180 million imperial gallons per day (MIGD).
DEWA received the most competitive bid, amounting to 0.36536 USD/m³ for the desalinated water, from ACWA Power, according to Gulf Business.
This new venture aligns with Dubai’s remarkable economic expansion and the thriving construction industry in the city. It also complements the Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan, addressing the significant population surge and fulfilling the steadily rising water demand within the emirate.
DEWA noted that this project is globally unprecedented in terms of water production through seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) technology, driven by solar energy. It stands as the company’s pioneering Independent Water Producer (IWP) model project.
“We are building water production plants based on seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) technology which require less energy than multi-stage flash distillation plants, making it a more sustainable choice for water desalination,” said Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, managing director & CEO of DEWA.
“By 2030, DEWA aims to produce 100 per cent desalinated water by a mix of clean energy and waste heat.”
Global Interest
The firm received 29 expressions of interest from global developers to undertake this venture. In December 2022, following the launch of the request for proposals, ACWA Power and Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA) submitted two bids in May.
Simultaneously, DEWA is working on enhancing its water desalination capacity in Dubai, aiming to elevate it from the current 490 MIGD to 730 MIGD. As part of this broader strategy, the utility company invested AED 157.4M to establish a 60 MIGD water reservoir in Lusaily.
In addition to the Lusaily reservoir, the Dubai Financial Market-listed firm is actively involved in three other reservoir projects in Nakhali, Hassyan, and Hatta. The company anticipates finalizing these projects within the coming year, thereby increasing the storage capacity from the current 881 MIG to 1,151 MIG.
DEWA accomplished a revenue growth of 5.4 per cent, AED 12.7B in half-year revenues. Rising demand for electricity, water, cooling services, and increased revenues from the utility company’s diverse asset portfolio drove this increase.
Specifically, the revenue growth percentages for electricity, water, and cooling were 5.7 per cent, 3.8 per cent, and 4.9 per cent, respectively.
