Saudi Arabia?s Yanbu power generation and desalination facility received second of the six desalination units at King Fahd International Port in Riyadh
The new desalination plant is reportedly the largest in the world and was delivered by the Dongbang Jiant 3 vessel, according to local reports. The unit is 135 metres in length, weighs 3,836 tonnes and can produce 94,000 cu/m of water per day.
South Korean conglomerate Doosan Global is supplying the desalination units. The first one was installed in May 2014, the third and fourth units will be installed in November 2014 while the fifth and sixth units will be installed by the first half of 2016, officials from the Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC) said.
When completed, the facility will supply 550,000 cu/m of desalinated water daily. Currently, it produces 124mn cu/m of water.
The Kingdom is the world?s largest producer of desalinated water and the demand for water is growing steadily, local reports said.
Abdul Rahman Al-Ibrahim, governor of SWCC, said, ?The existing desalination plants produced 955mn cu/m of water in 2012, which is an increase of 7.8 per cent compared to 2011.?
Owing to an increase in demand for water, the Saudi Arabian government has signed multi-billion dollar contracts to establish new desalination facilities across the Kingdom. In addition, existing desalination plants are being renovated to prolong their life expectancy from 25 years to 40 years, added reports.
