UAE-based Federal Electricity and Water Authority (FEWA) has selected ACWA Power-led consortium as the preferred bidder to develop a desalination plant in Umm Al Quwain
The consortium includes ACWA Power and its partner Tecton Engineering & Construction LLC.
Once completed, the plant in Umm Al Quwain is expected to process about 45mn gallons of seawater a day into potable water.
As desalination plants are emerging as crucial sources of energy consumption across the world, the UAE is showing growing trend in adopting desalinated water to meet energy demands for domestic as well as industrial sources. According to the industry experts, GCC?s desalination plants account for about 0.2 per cent of all energy consumed globally.
Speaking to the press, Mohammed Salah, director general of FEWA, commented, ?This is the first FEWA?s desalination plant in cooperation with the private sector and the authority intends to commence three other desalination plants following the same model which will be tendered before the end of this current year.?
FEWA will commence a final round of contract discussions to complete the financial close by Q3 2018. The organisation reinforced that it plans to be completely independent and securing its water demand by the end of 2022.
Recently, ACWA Power has signed a MoU with China Energy Engineering Corporation Limited (ENERGY CHINA) to explore joint investment opportunities and cooperate on power generation and water desalination projects across the Middle East and Asia where ACWA Power operates.
