ACWA Power & partners inaugurate $650m water + solar plant
Inaugurated over the weekend, the project is the first IWP in the eastern region of KSA with production capacity of 600,000 m3, first in the kingdom to integrate solar PV; known as Jazlah Water Desalination Company
ACWA Power with partners Gulf Investment Corporation (GIC) and AlBawani Water & Power Company (AWP), officially inaugurated the Jubail 3A independent water desalination plant (known as Jazlah Water Desalination Company) last week Saturday, after receiving the commercial operation certificate from Saudi Water Partnership Co. (SWPC) to mark the start of full-time operations.
The project is the first of its kind in the Kingdom due to its integration with photovoltaic (PV) solar power.
The $650 million Jazlah company project, located in Jubail, is capable of 2.8 kWh/cubic metre of water using seawater from the Arabian Gulf. The project marks the first Independent Water Project (IWP) in the eastern region with a production capacity of 600,000 cubic meters of desalinated water per day to meet increasing water demands.
The project also houses a 45.5 MW solar PV power generation facility, which will account for 20% of the plant’s energy consumption. The new plant aims to deliver clean water to over three million people at a tariff of 0.41 USD/m3, using reverse osmosis technology.
All of this will result in “reduced carbon emissions and a significant decrease in grid electricity consumption,” said Engineer Khalid Al-Quraishi, the CEO of Saudi Water Partnership Company, underlining the plant’s commitment to sustainability.
The project will work directly to meet demand in the Riyadh and Qassim regions, according to HE Eng. Abdulrahman bin Abdul Mohsen Al-Fadhli, Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture of Saudi Arabia and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Water Partnership Company.
The plant’s utilization of advanced PV and RO technologies will reduce carbon emissions by 60,000 tons per year supporting sustained social and economic advancement in line with Saudi Vision 2030, according to a statement from ACWA Power.
The Jazlah company project was successfully delivered through a development consortium comprising ACWA Power (40.2%), Gulf Investment Corporation (GIC) (40%), and AlBawani Water & Power Company (AWP) (19.8%). The execution of the project involved the EPC consortium of Power China, Sepco III, Lantania, and Abengoa, while SWPC is the off taker.
Energy & Utilities reported last year on the start of the Jubail 3B solar-powered desalination plant, with capacity of 570,000 cubic metres per day. Featuring a 61 MW (PV) solar installation, it will be the largest inhouse solar component for a desalination plant in the kingdom.
Energy & Utilities reported on ACWA Power committing $3.25 billion to three Saudi solar projects working in tandem with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF). The three projects, Ar Rass 2, Saad 2, and Alkahfah projects are located in the central and northern regions of Saudi Arabia and have a capacity of approximately 2,000 MW, 1,125 MW, and 1,425 MW, respectively.
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