MOROCCO – The Moroccan government has announced it is developing three new seawater desalination projects in the cities of El Jadida, Safi and in the Oriental Region. The Safi plant will have a production capacity of 86,400 m3/d and the El Jadida plant will produce at a rate of 75,800 m3/d. The plant to be set up in the Oriental region will have an initial capacity of 274,000 m3/d with the option to expand to 547,000 m3/d later. The Oriental region plant is still in the study phase and requires an investment of $125.7 million. The three projects will commence construction work this year. (Afrik21)
SAUDI ARABIA – Saudi Water Partnership Company (SWPC) has issued requests for qualification (RFQs) to a total of 35 companies for the Jubail 4&6 Independent Water Project with a total capacity of 600,000 m3/d. The plant will be located 18 km south of Jubail Industrial City adjacent to the existing plant units (Jubail Phase 1, Jubail Phase 2, Jubail 3A & 3B), in the Eastern Province of the kingdom.
The scope of the work includes the finance, development, operation and maintenance of the key seawater reverse osmosis desalination water project in Jubail Industrial City as well as complementary infrastructure and facilities. According to SWPC, the last date for submitting the RFQs has been set at February 21. (Zawya)
SAUDI ARABIA – ACWA Power has added 2.4 million m3/d of water desalination capacity across four desalination projects in 2022, the largest in a calendar year in the company’s history. The company’s total water capacity under management is now 6.4 million cubic meters across 16 projects in four countries. In 2023, the company is expecting to increase its capacity by up to 15 percent with the addition of three more projects to its desalination portfolio. (Zawya)
U.S.A. – The Port of Corpus Christi commissioners have decided to move forward with obtaining the second permit to operate its Harbor Island desalination plant. The commission voted in favor of paying $62,025 in permitting fees to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, effectively kicking off the process to seek permission to intake seawater for the proposed 189,270 m3/d facility. The port’s Harbor Island plant is one of five marine desalination facilities proposed near Corpus Christi Bay. The port and the city of Corpus Christi have proposed two sites each, though collaboration between the two entities broke down last year. (Caller Times)
An oil tanker navigating through Corpus Christi Bay, U.S.A. Credit: Angela Piazza/Caller-Times
U.S.A. – Membrion announced it is collaborating with W.L. Gore and Associates, to perform commercial testing of their jointly developed ultra-thin ceramic ion exchange membranes. Membrion and Gore have demonstrated up to a 4-fold enhancement in salt flux above Membrion’s Ceramix membrane in a commercial scale. The two companies are tackling the treatment of complex brines in the semiconductor, food, mining and other industries and aim to explore the commercial application of advanced desalination membranes. (Businesswire)