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Ewec advances with Saadiyat RO desalination project: The Emirates Water and Electricity Company (Ewec) has received four bids for the for the development and operation of its Saadiyat Island seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination project, according to a statement. The project — the seventh of its kind in Ewec’s portfolio — aims to produce 273k cubic meters of desalinated water per day.
What we know: Competing bids include Spanish infrastructure company Acciona Agua, GS Inima Environmental, French utility Engie, and a consortium of Spain’s FCC Aqualia and Egypt’s Orascom Construction, according to the statement. Some 41 companies and consortiums submitted expressions of interest, with only 19 companies and consortiums qualifying for the request for proposal (RFP) phase.
What’s next: Ewec said it expects the contract award and execution of the water purchase agreement to take place in 4Q 2024. Commercial operations are slated by Q3 2027, according to the statement.
We’ve been expecting this: Ewec called on developers in 2022 to submit offers for two new low-carbon reverse osmosis water plants on the islands of Saadiyat and Hudayriat. Both projects will provide some 455k cubic meters of water a day — enough to supply up to 180k households. EWEC already operates six reverse osmosis desalination plants.
Part of a bigger plan: This project is part of EWEC’s strategy to produce 90% of water through reverse osmosis (RO) by 2030 and to achieve nearly carbon-free water production by 2031, according to the statement.
RO v. traditional desalination: Low-carbon-intensive RO technology sees over 85% lower emissions when compared to traditional thermal desalination, according to Ewec. It aims to slash carbon emissions linked to water desalination in Abu Dhabi to less than 1k per cubic meter by 2031.
But the jury’s still out on how green it is: There has been a debate on the low carbon classification of reverse osmosis plants. Such plants can’t be truly labeled “low carbon” as long as they’re powered by fossil fuels, Saudi Acwa Power’s former CEO Paddy Padmanathan said in 2022. Fossil fuels are used in around 70% of desalination plants in the Gulf, Padmanathan added. This method of desalinating water is also highly intensive, requiring 3-10 KWh of energy to produce 1 cubic meter of water, far higher than the 1 KWh used in traditional water treatment plants. It’s unclear how power used for the M2 RO plant will be generated.
