AUSTRALIA – The New South Wales government has decided to halt plans to expand the Sydney desalination plant. According to Government News the expansion plans have been paused while the government is considering their greater Sydney water policy, which will assess whether expanding the plant is the best option for Sydney. Last December, the government had asked the plant to prepare plans to see its capacity doubled. The CEO of the Sydney desalination plant stated that detailed planning for the expansion had been put on hold by the state government because of high dam levels. The turnaround in dam levels allowed time for the government to assess all options to secure the future of Sydney’s water supply. (Government News))
IRAQ – The state auditing body of Iraq has accused the Construction, Housing and Municipalities Ministry of delaying a giant desalination project, according to Iraq’s official newspaper the Alsabaah daily. The Federal Integrity Commission (Nazaha) stated that, while the project was approved several years ago and has received funding through a $12.5 billion loan, the Ministry failed to award the project to any company. The plant will be located in the Southern port of Basra and will have a capacity of 273,972 m3/d and will supply Baghdad and several Southern areas. In a report to the Prime Minister’s office and Parliament, the Nazaha asked the cabinet to quickly issue tenders and award the project. (Zawya)
U.A.E. – Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (DEWA) has appointed consultants to support the retender of the Hassayan independent water project (IWP). The consultants advising on the project include Ernst & Young, CMS and WSP. DEWA adopted the IWP contract structure for the Hassayan desalination plant following the success of the Independent Power Producer (IPP) model at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park projects. The Hassyan project is expected to start production in 2023. (Utilities))
The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority headquarters. Credit: Inhabitat
FRANCE – Veolia Environment released its financial figures for the first quarter of 2020. While global businesses were down by 3.6% compared to Q1 2019, Veolia Water Technologies revenue was up $387 million (+10.4% at constant exchange rates) compared with Q1 2019, due to the construction of desalination plants in the Middle East (Al Dur II, Umm Al Quwain and Rabigh 3) and construction works not exposed to the Covid-19 crisis. (MarketScreener)