KAEC awards desalination plant contract to Metito
Plant will be powered by solar energy in line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030
The King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) has awarded a contract for the design and construction of a desalination plant to the Saudi-arm of UAE-based water management solution provider Metito. The plant will be built at a cost of $60m and will draw power from a solar power plant according to a statement from the KAEC.
Once completed, the plant will have a production capacity of 30,000 cubic metres of drinking water per day, with the option to expand capacity to 60,000m cubic metres. This will be the second desalination plant in KAEC and will support the city’s projects and growing population base.
“This is vital to our water security and is consistent with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 for sustainable conservation of natural resources, water and clean energy use. The plant will also establish greater confidence between investors and the city, which continues to implement major projects to develop its infrastructure in all its different sectors, and will attract more investors to invest and gain a footing in KAEC knowing their water needs for industrial and commercial use is sustainably secured,” stated KAEC chairman and CEO, Fahd Bin Abdul Mohsen Al Rasheed.
Metito says it will begin work on the desalination plant in the near term, with an aim to complete the project within two-years. According to the KAEC, the plant is expected to start production of drinking water in the first quarter of 2020.
Mutaz Ghandour, chairman and CEO of Metito added, “KAEC’s investments in infrastructural projects that rely on sustainable resources, such as desalinated water and solar energy, marks another unique proposition for this iconic establishment and a clear reflection of a progressive and exemplar vision. Developing secure and sustainable water sources is critical to developing successful economic systems and ecosystems and to the establishing a broad range of enterprises such as; hotels, food industries, pharmaceuticals, and construction, which will now have bigger appetite to invest in the city.”
KAEC is the largest privately-funded new city in the world and is located on the west coast of Saudi Arabia.
