Officials at the signing of the project restructure deal in June.
Doosan wins $640m Saudi water project EPC deal
RIYADH, August 4, 2022
South Korea’s Doosan Enerbility has won the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract for Shuaibah 3 Independent Water Project in Saudi Arabia, reports said.
The $640-million desalination project is developed by a special purpose vehicle (Shuaibah Three Water Desalination Company) launched by Saudi utility developer Acwa Power and Water & Electricity Holding Company (Badeel), which is owned by Saudi Arabia’s PIF sovereign wealth fund.
Earlier, In June, Acwa Power, a leading Saudi developer, investor and operator of power generation, desalinated water and green hydrogen plants worldwide; Shuaibah Water Electricity Company (SWEC), and Saudi Water Partnership Company (SWPC), the off-taker of Shuaibah 3 IWPP, signed an agreement to restructure the Shuaibah 3 Independent Water and Power Project (IWPP).
The agreement entailed the conversion and replacement of the IWPP from an energy-intensive power generation and thermal desalination facility to a greenfield seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination plant under the name “Shuaibah 3 Independent Water Project (IWP)”. As such, operations of Shuaibah 3 Independent Water and Power Project (IWPP) will cease in 2025, saving nearly 45 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions and 22 million barrels of light crude oil annually.
The Shuaibah 3 IWP aims to establish the world’s largest reverse osmosis desalination facility in Shuaibah, located 110 km south of Jeddah.
Under the EPC contract, Doosan Enerbility (formerly Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction) will build a desalination plant capable of producing 600,000 cu m of water per day and a 60 MW solar power plant.
The project work is expected to start in September 2022 and completion is scheduled for May 2025. Once completed, the desalination plant will supply potable water to 2 million people. The solar farm will provide electric power to the desalination plant.
Acwa Power said the switch from thermal to RO will reduce the power needed to desalinate seawater by 70 per cent. The new 25-year water purchase agreement (WPA) is valued at nearly SR3 billion ($800 million).
