RIYADH: ACWA Power’s Jazlah Water Desalination Co. has received the commercial operation certificate from its customer Saudi Water Partnership Co. for the production of 600,000 cubic meters of desalinated water per day.
Jazlah is owned by a consortium led by ACWA Power, which holds a 40.2 percent stake, with other strategic partners -- Gulf Investment Corp. and AlBawani Water & Power Co.
With an investment value of $650 million, the consortium is responsible for designing, constructing, commissioning, operating and maintaining the desalination plant in Jubail using the latest Reverse Osmosis Technology.
ACWA Power said in a bourse filing that the financial impact of this project is expected to be reflected during the second quarter of 2023.
Jazlah desalination plant is the first project to be launched by the Saudi Water Partnership Co. in the Eastern Province, as the project contains four water tanks with a capacity of 600,000 cubic meters.
ACWA Power said the project has successfully capitalized on local content with nearly SR850 million ($227 million) injected into the national economy, indicating the rising role of the private sector in developing local content
It added that the project contributes more effectively to achieving the development goals of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.
The project chose to use reverse osmosis technology as opposed to alternative thermal technology as it typically uses less energy than thermal desalination plants. Reverse osmosis is defined as a water purification system that uses semipermeable membranes and pressure to separate salts from water.
The 25-year water purchase agreement that the consortium signed with the Saudi Water Partnership Co. involves designing, constructing, commissioning, operating and maintaining the desalination plant as well as associated potable water storage and electrical special facilities.
The company had awarded the engineering procurement construction part of the contract to a consortium consisting of Power China, SEPCO-III and Abengoa.
In addition to the core desalination process of an RO, the project consists of four tanks which are enough for one day of supply. It used 13.5 km of overhead transmission line and 3.5 km of interface dispatch line. The desalination project has used a total undersea piping of 11.5 km.
