ACWA Power wins the world’s largest independent water desalination plant

ACWA Power, the leading developer, owner and operator of power generation and water desalination plants wins the largest independent water desalination plant, Rabigh 3 IWP – further expanding its desalination capacity in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The water purchase agreement was signed by HE Eng. Abdulrahman bin Abdulmohsen Al-Fadley, Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture and Chairman of Water & Electricity Company (WEC), as WEC will act as the off taker of the project.

Amongst 55 expressions of interest and five bidders, ACWA Power submitted the lowest tariff at 0.53USD/m3 and was selected to develop the desalination plant alongside the Saudi Brothers Commercial Company (SBCC) in Rabigh, Saudi Arabia. Rabigh 3 IWP will utilize reverse osmosis (RO) technology to yield a capacity of 600,000 cubic metres a-day. The innovative design of this plant ensures the highest efficiency, reliability and availability for any comparable plant in the world. The water output will cater to the water demand of Makkah al-Mukarramah and Jeddah. This will ensure consistent, reliable and steady water supply to the citizens of the two cities and village, especially during demand peak periods such as the Holy Month of Ramadan and Hajj seasons.

The Rabigh 3 IWP is being procured under a 25-year build-own-operate (BOO) contract and will commence commercial operation on the 31^st of December 2021.