Water. Desalination + reuse
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/792465
20 On Site March 2017 Water. desalination + reuse First power and water project is gas fired and cost $1.7 billion timeline • Sumitomo Corporation and Engie bid for the project in 2011 • Project was awarded in December 2013 • A trailblazing project for Kuwait • The country's first independent power and water project the numbers • Combined cycle gas turbine power plant generates 1,539 MW • Multiple effect distillation (MED) water plant produces 107 MIGD (486,000 m3/d) of desalinated water The Az Zour Independent Power and Water Project (IWPP) is a trailblazing project for Kuwait, whose governance and business culture had previously prevented overseas companies from operating in the country independently of local partners. Phase one, completed in November 2016, comprises a 1,539 MW combined cycle gas turbine power plant fired primarily by LNG, and a multiple effect distillation (MED) water plant producing 107 MIGD (486,000 m3/d) of desalinated water. It cost $1.7billion. The project was originally tendered in 2011, and was awarded to a joint venture of Sumitomo Corporation and Engie at the end of 2013. The delivery entity is Shamal Az-Zour, the construction partner Hyundai Heavy Industries, and the MED units were supplied by SIDEM. "It's Kuwait's first power project, and it's combined with the water plant, you can't separate the two. In the Middle East, there have been a number of these independent power and water projects, and so we followed the same structures," says Shamal Az-Zour chief executive Andy Biffen, who was seconded from Sumitomo to run the project starting in 2014. The plant produced its first energy in May 2015, and the entire project completed on deadline on 26 November 2016. Stage two of Az Zour IWPP is now out to tender; and the third and final stage, to come later, will comprise steps three, four and five. The project is being procured by Kuwait Authority for Partnership Projects (KAPP), which was created to develop new such PPPs in Kuwait, and to bring in the expertise and technologies of private operators. Project backstory A trailblazing project that lays groundwork for future PPPs in Kuwait • Proven, robust technology • Construction ran to schedule • Cut a path through Kuwait's project landscape • Sets a precedent for future public-private water projects Kuwait's first IWPP was deliv- ered on deadline to the day on 26 November 2016. "With hindsight we were very lucky to get everything through on time and that our construction partner Hyundai Heavy Industries was on time. Fortunately we escaped a lot of those little wrinkles that need sorting out during construction, and can drag on and on, and so we kept to time," says Andy Biffen, chief executive of the project delivery vehicle Az Zour Shamal. Perhaps it was luck. Either way, for a project of this size and complexity to deliver on deadline is impressive. In fact, the challenges appear to have been less about technology, engineering, or construction, and more about charting a path through the various government departments' operating modes, local business practices, and social structures. It shows how political and business diplomacy can be as important to delivering a water project as the quality of the technology. In this case, the procuring entity Kuwait Authority for Partnership Projects (KAPP) saw MED as a proven technology for treating Gulf waters, and wanted to play it safe. The size of the desalination plant is impressive: with 10 Sidem MED units each at 10.84 MIGD (50,000 m3/d), it produces 107 MIGD (486,000 m3/d). Project blazed a trail for private operators in Kuwait market breaking ground • IWPP was unprecedented as 40 per cent privately-owned project • Personnel at government-owned entities were in some cases dealing with private operators for the first time the challenges • Forged a new path through Kuwaiti approvals process to get equipment accepted • Worked with entities including Ministry of Electricy and Water and Kuwait Fire Department • Aimed to introduce international standards The project delivery team faced the unique challenges of being among the first privately owned companies to operate independently in Kuwait. The Sidem distillers were delivered in two major shipments direct to the project site, each one weighing it at about 2,600 tonnes. Six of the distillers were shipped from UAE, and the other four came from China. How we did it continued on p23