Doosan Enerbility wins EPC contract for $640mn Shuaibah 3 IWP in Saudi Arabia
Contract will see Doosan Enerbility build a desalination plant capable of producing 600,00cu/m of water per day and a 60MW solar power plant
South Korea’s Doosan Enerbility has said that it has won the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the Shuaibah 3 Independent Water Project in Saudi Arabia. The $640mn desalination project is being developed via a special purpose vehicle (Shuaibah Three Water Desalination Company), which was launched by Saudi utility developer ACWA Power and Water and Electricity Holding Company (Badeel), which is owned by Saudi Arabia’s PIF sovereign wealth fund.
According to reports, the EPC contract will see Doosan Enerbility (formerly Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction) build a desalination plant capable of producing 600,000cu/m of water per day and a 60MW solar power plant.
Project work is expected to start in September 2022, with completion scheduled for May 2025. Once completed, the desalination plant will supply potable water to two million people. The solar farm will provide electric power to the desalination plant.
In May 2022, an Acwa Power-led consortium said it scored a major Saudi water deal worth $650mn in Jubail City.
In June 2022, ACWA Power, 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 covers 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 45m tons of carbon dioxide emissions and 22m 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.
ACWA Power said that the switch from thermal to RO will reduce the power needed to desalinate seawater by 70%. The new 25-year water purchase agreement (WPA) is valued at nearly $800mn.
Over $2bn in water desalination projects were said to be underway in the UAE in May, while later in the month, an Engie-led consortium broke ground on a sustainable desalination plant in Saudi Arabia.
