Water. Desalination + reuse
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18 In Site March 2018 water.desalination+reuse In the Persian Gulf and along the Red Sea coast, the transition away from thermal desalination and to reverse osmosis (RO) picked up pace in Q1 2018. The privatisation of Saudi Arabia's desalination portfolio, which was originally announced back in 2016, has now gained momentum with the new promise of $530 million for nine new desalination plants. In Oman, a steady stream of new projects is moving ahead. And in Abu Dhabi, the tender is out for a major new facility of 909,000 m3/d of new RO capacity. Why now? The move to RO has been expected for a number of years, and the cost of the technology keeps going lower. At the same time, the price of oil and gas is rising relative to other sources of energy, including nuclear and solar. In Abu Dhabi, a large amount of new nuclear power generation capacity will be commissioned within the next few years, along with new solar capacity. In the cooler, winter months, these new sources will fulfil the majority of the country's power demand. Thermal desali - nation systems relying on the steam produced by gas-fuelled power production will therefore become less economical. "You can switch RO on and off to match the grid requirement. It's more flexible and can take energy from whichever source you want," explains Corrado Sommariva, managing director of ILF Consulting Engineers Middle East, and a past president of the IDA. The significant new project out to tender in Abu Dhabi is Taweela (see box above), and as this comes on line, there is likely to be a gradual retirement of some earlier independent water and power projects (IWPPs). "The main challenge is that the existing assets have been planned with a very long lifecycle and the economics are for run - ning them for longer. Some of the IWPPs are just 10 years old; economic amortisation would happen in another few years," Sommariva says. Dubai is in a similar situation as it develops new sources of solar power. The second big reason for pro - jects moving ahead is an increas- ing openness to private finance. "They have a robust process, it takes time but it's competitive, gets good results, good prices, and it's familiar to investors," says Brendan Cronin, Pöyry head of management consulting Middle East. The familiar schedule — calls for expressions of interest (EoIs), longlisting, shortlisting, and inviting successful bidders to submit detailed proposals — is understood by suppliers and financiers alike. As the transition picks up pace, one unknown is around future water demand, which may be affected by population growth, and levels of gross domestic product. There is a gradual shi£ towards raising tariffs in the Mid - dle East, and in some instances introducing them for the first time — a development that is expected to curb demand, and may even affect wider, water-related cultural and lifestyle change in the future. The next big challenge is to develop a more holistic approach to water cycle management, including implementing water reuse. "I would like to see water and wastewater managed together, and independently from the power sector," Som - mariva says. "At the moment, the whole water cycle is not managed together. Water production and wastewater treatment is separate, each with its own masterplan. There could be a big role for water reuse; 100 per cent reclamation coupled with renewable energy. This would be the next thing." Middle East moves to decouple desalination from power production Abu Dhabi, Oman, and Saudi Arabia are beginning to make the moves to implement the privately financed reverse osmosis projects that have been talked about for so long MIDDLE EAST ABU DHABI, OMAN, SAUDI ARABIA IN SITE Abu Dhabi's mega desalination project • Client: Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (ADWEA) • Capacity: 200 million gallons a day (909,000 m3/d); split into two 455,000 m3/d facilities • Location: Taweela power and water complex, 45 kilometres north of Abu Dhabi city • Project scope: Development, financing, construction, operations and maintenance • Project stage: Call for developers went out in Q1 2018 Saudi Arabia moves ahead with privatisation In January, Saudi Arabia confirmed funds of $530 million for nine new desal plants on the Red Sea, to be built in 18 months, total capacity 240,000 m3/d. Here's the list of new projects first mooted back in 2016: • Rabigh 3, capacity 600,000 m3/d (shortlisted January 2018); • Jubail, capacity 1,170,000 m3/d; • Shuqaiq, capacity 380,000 m3/d (call for EOIs November 2017); • Duba 4, capacity 9,000 m3/d; • Al Wajh 4, capacity 9,000 m3/d; • Yanbu, capacity 450,000 m3/d (call for EOIs November 2017); • Umluj, capacity 18,000, m3/d; and • Haql, capacity 9,000 m3/d. * Plus an additional $46.7 million a year for mobile supplies, until the bigger projects are completed