The plant is being built by a consortium comprised of ENGIE, Nesma Ajlan & Bros Holding Group
In the presence of Khaled Z AlQureshi, CEO, SWPC, global energy company ENGIE, together with Nesma Company Limited and Ajlan & Bros Holding Group recently broke ground on the Jubail 3B Independent Water Project (IWP) plant located 65km north of Dammam airport in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Commissioned by Saudi Water Partnership Company (SWPC), the Jubail 3B plant will produce 570,000 cbm/day of potable water using reverse osmosis technology. The plant will supply water to Riyadh and Qassim regions once commercially operational in 2024, under the terms of a 25-year Water Purchase Agreement.
The consortium, led by ENGIE, was awarded the Jubail 3B project in June 2021 after submitting a bid with a tariff of SAR 1.591(US$ 0.42) per cbm of potable water to SWPC.
Developed under a public-private partnership structure (PPP), the plant will be financed by the consortium and operated and maintained by ENGIE. Once complete, the plant will have a 61MWp capacity solar facility, the largest in-house solar capability for a desalination plant in the Kingdom, helping to optimize electricity consumption and reduce grid reliance.
“The Jubail 3B IWP plant will not only use reverse osmosis, a more energy-efficient process than traditional thermal desalination technologies but will also use renewable solar energy in place of traditional fossil fuels, helping to reduce its carbon footprint. Moreover, the plant will critically support the creation of local job opportunities,” added AlQureshi.
“We are delighted to be breaking ground on the plant today and look forward to becoming fully operational by early 2024,” noted Philippe Lambert, CEO, Jubail 3B.
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