Water. Desalination + reuse
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/827133
10 Interview June 2017 Water.desalination+reuse Abengoa's desalination project in Barka, Oman, is among the 1.5 million m3/d of desalination capacity it has installed and under operation globally we can be considered already local because of our history there," says Almargo. North America, "We have our presence and we still have targets and objectives to stay there and to grow there." North Africa, where Morocco is the main focus; and South Africa. And, Almagro adds: "We want to get back to Spain. We were not paying too much attention in the past few years to the local market, and now we want really to work again in Spain as we were doing before." The latest contract win with the Shoaiba III project in Saudi is certainly putting Abengoa back on the map in desalination. The project, on which it is partnering with Italian firm Fisia Italimpianti on the EPC work, is currently moving forward with all engineering and technical studies taking place under a limited notice to proceed, and the full notice is expected in July when construction begins. "This is an RO desalination plant so we have a very big experience doing that in the past. We have more than 1.5 million m3/d of desalination capacity already constructed and under operation. We have the confidence of ACWA Power, which is investing in this and will be in charge of operations over many years, so its analysis is quite exacting in terms of economy. We believe that we have the best design, and most competitive solution, based on our experience and know-how," says Almagro. It is this experience and credibility within the market that will enable the company now to move forward into a more positive phase and to continue to grow. "We have been more than 70 years working in the EPC market, so we are recognised by many organisations in the world as a key player on EPC projects. The market will always become more competitive. Like the other companies, Abengoa has a target to improve, and by improving we force the rest to improve also. This is the competitive scenario in our markets. It changes every day, we need to be always on the edge of the technological advances, we are ready for it." Now we have a structure that makes much more sense