Spain’s Abengoa has announced that it has been awarded a contract to build the second largest reverse osmosis desalination plant in Saudi Arabia. The project will be carried out in consortium with engineering and construction company Sepco III.
Under the terms of the contract, Abengoa will be responsible for the engineering, supply and construction of the Jubail 3A reverse osmosis desalination plant, which will be located in the Kingdom’s eastern province.
Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power awarded the contract for the 600,000 cu. m per day desalination plant, along with its developers Gulf Investment Corporation and Al Bawani Water & Power Company. Once completed, the desalinated water will be supplied to the state-owned Saudi Water Partnership Company – the promoter of this project.
According to a statement from the Spanish company, the project is part of the Saudi government’s programme to promote private participation in the country’s water sector. It also stated that scope of the project exceeds $200 million.
Abengoa added that scope of work will include seawater intake, pumping, pre-treatment, reverse osmosis system with energy recovery, post-treatment, pumping station, product water storage, effluent treatment, discharge by outfall and field solar photovoltaic, as well as the associated electrical installations that comprise the construction of an electrical substation of 380/33 kV.
It will also build tanks for the storage of treated water with a capacity of one day of production, as well as a photovoltaic solar field, the company said.
It will have the same capacity as the desalination plant that Abengoa is currently constructing in Rabigh III, and will provide drinking water to Riyadh, Qassim and Eastern Provinces throughout the year, the statement added.