SAUDI ARABIA – The Saline Water Desalination Corporation (SWCC) has fast-tracked plans to privatize the Ras Al-Khair water and power plant. The decision is part of a SWCC initiative to achieve the goals of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030. The plan also coincides with the Kingdom’s aspiration to attract domestic and foreign investment form the private sector. The Ras Al-Khair plant started operation in 2015, has a desalination capacity of 1.05 million m3/d and generates electricity with a capacity of 2,650 MW. The plant will be the first brownfield asset of the SWCC portfolio to be privatized. (Zawya))
IRAN – The head of the Bushehr Water and Wastewater Company (BWWC) revealed that two desalination units with a combined capacity of 22,500 m3/d are now operational in Bushehr Province and one more plant will become active in the summer. The new plant will have a production capacity of 35,000 m3/d. Desalination capacity in the region has increased from 10,000 m3/d in 2017 to 22,500 m3/d at present. According to BWWC, more units are needed to satisfy the water demands of the people in the dry rural areas. (Financial Tribune)
The Port Macquarie-Hastings Council office in Port Macquarie, Australia. Credit: place-advisor
AUSTRALIA – The Port Macquarie-Hastings Council has decided to halt the investigation into a desalination plant as a future water security measure until financial implications are further explored. Mayor Peta Pinson stated that investment in the region’s water security would be better spent on other water infrastructure projects, than to spend $600,000 on the investigation of a desalination plant.
The New South Wales Minister for Water has indicated that there is no political interest in supporting a desalination plant from a state government perspective. The desalination plant would cost between $80 to $90 million and would be required in the event that the region’s water system is unable to be managed via pumping from the river. (Macquarie Port News)