Largest multi-effect desalination plant green lit

Once completed in the middle of 2012, the plant is expected to supply potable water to 150,000 to 200,000 people.

A contract to build what is said to be the world’s largest multi-effect desalination (MED) plant was signed Monday between the Saudi Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC) and South Korea's Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction.

The US$124 million agreement for the phase 2 plant at Yanbu, 350 kilometres north of Jeddah on the west coast of the Saudi Kingdom, envisages the unit will have a capacity of 15 million gallons per day (MIGD) (68,190 cubic metres per day) almost twice as large as the 8.5 MIGD (38,000 cubic metres per day) Fujairah unit in the UAE.

Once completed in the middle of 2012, the plant is expected to supply potable water to 150,000 to 200,000 people.

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Under the agreement, Doosan will carry out engineering, fabrication, installation, commissioning and all other related scopes of work on an engineering, procurement and construction basis. SWCC and Doosan will collaborate on advanced technology development through exchange of know-how and technology sharing.

Doosan said the project order displays the market’s recognition of the MED market, which is growing due to low energy-consumption trends, according to a report by the Saudi Gazette.
The company is also building the world’s largest single-unit multi-stage flash (MSF) evaporator (20 MIGD or 91,000 cubic metres per day) for the Ras Azzour facility on the Gulf coast, which it won last year.