Water Infrastructure
UAE Awards $285M EPC Contract for Desalination Plant P3 Project
Officials of Etihad Water and Electricity, and contractors Lantania and NMDC ink Fujairah desalination plant project agreement.
The United Arab Emirates state-owned water utility firm, Etihad Water and Electricity, has awarded a $285-million engineering, procurement and construction contract to build a seawater reverse osmosis desalination plant—the second one to be delivered under a public private partnership model in the country.
The utility has picked UAE-based NMDC Infra and Spain-based Lantania Aguas, through their joint venture called JV Lantania NMDC Water, to develop the Fujairah I Independent Water Producer project, a 272,765 cu-meter-per-day desalination facility. The project is set to be completed in 30 months to boost the country's Water Security Strategy 2036, a national plan to achieve sustainable and continuous access to an adequate drinking water supply.
The project, being developed at the Port of Fujairah, more than 74 miles northeast of the city of Dubai on the Persian Gulf, will have storage capacity equivalent to 18 hours of production. It will draw in seawater and remove salt and impurities to produce potable water for residential, commercial and industrial uses according to a statement by the utility..
The project will have a seawater open channel intake, a piped outfall, reverse osmosis plant and potable water storage tanks, although Etihad Water and Electricity is yet to confirm the dimensions or specific details of these components.
Utility CEO Mohammed Al Shehhi said the project "marks an important step in [its] journey ... to develop [reverse osmosis] capacity across its network.”
The company, which delivers electricity and water services in six emirates, is expected to sign a long-term water supply agreement with Lantania NMDC Water. The project "will add important investment value to the utility portfolio," said rhe CEO, adding that the company is currently developing multiple projects to be announced.
NMDC Group had in January, through its subsidiary NMDC Infra, acquired a 51% majority stake in Lantana Aguas, a specialized desalination, water treatment and purification affiliate of Lantana Group.
The Fujairah project is the second desalination project being procured by the utility in partnership with the private sector under the P3 model—after the $800-million Naqa’a facility located about 124 miles north of Abu Dhabi, with production capacity of more than 681,900 cubic meters per day.
Looking for quick answers on construction and engineering topics?
Try Ask ENR, our new smart AI search tool.
Ask ENR →
