GHANA – The Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) has been ordered by the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) to reduce its tariff by 10% for all its customers. According to the order GWCL has failed to be compliant with tariff decision and regulatory directives relating to the Nungua desalination plant.

In January, GWCL shut down operations at the plant after a long dispute with the government because of the expense of its operations—but it has been charging the cost of operation.  . According to the PURC the 10% tariff reduction...

SAUDI ARABIA – Two desalination plants with a combined cost of $1.06 billion will be constructed in the cities of Al-Khobar and Jubail in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. The Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture Abdurahman Al-Fadli recently revealed that the desalination units will contribute an additional million cubic meters of water daily to multiple cities in the Eastern Province.  The plants are expected to become operational by the middle of 2021.^[1]

PAKISTAN – Hub Power Company (Hubco) has...

ISRAEL – Concerns have been raised that restrictions on water usage may be required in 2019 if drought conditions persist due to failure to meet desalination targets set out in the country’s strategic emergency plan for tackling water shortages. Five large desalination facilities currently provide 70 percent of the country’s drinking water, with additional plants planned at Sorek and western Galilee.

At present the water scarcity is predominantly affecting the agriculture sector, but if the drought continues wider disruption to the...

AUSTRALIA – Concerns have been raised that Sydney’s Kurnell desalination plant may not be ready for activation if drought conditions persist, as storm damage from December 2015 has not yet been repaired due to a dispute between the private operator and insurer. With Sydney’s water levels currently at 66 percent, activation of the desalination facility may be necessary in 10 weeks if dry conditions persist and bring levels down to 60 percent. When offline, the plant’s maintenance costs $195 million per year.^[1]

IRAQ – The State of Kuwait...

AUSTRALIA – SA Water is planning a new desalination plant with a capacity of 6,000m3/d-9,000m3/d on the Eyre Peninsula. In July 2018, the Minister for Environment and Water announced completion of the purchase of 60 hectares of land near Sleaford Bay for the construction of the plant, which is likely to begin within two years. Government officials have reported that the suitable environmental planning measures will be followed and that a community engagement program will enable local residents to be involved with the project’s development.^...

AUSTRALIA – Sydney’s Kurnell desalination plant may come back online for the first time in five years as reservoir levels approach 60 percent—the threshold at which the plant will once again become operational.

The desalination plant was completed in 2010 in response to the country’s worst drought in 100 years—which had Sydney’s dam levels reach as low as 34 percent. The plant went offline in 2012 when dam levels reached 98 percent and has since been in maintenance and care mode. Veolia Water Australia operates the plant under a 20-year...

OMAN – A consortium comprised of JGC Corporation (Japan), United Infrastructure Development Company (Oman) and Doosan Heavy (Korea) has won a contract to build, own and operate the 80,000m3/d Asilah independent water project (IWP) desalination plant in Al Sharqiyah. The project company, Al Asilah Desalination Company, is 75% owned by JGC, 20% by United Infrastructure, and 5% by Doosan. Doosan Heavy will serve as the contractor for the project, which is expected to start operations in 2021. Oman Power and Water Procurement Company (OPWP) will...

INDIA – Tata Steel’s civic utility wing Jusco is in the process of commissioning a zero liquid discharge (ZLD) unit in Jamshedpur. The Rs 25 crore ($3.6 million) project uses UF, RO and evaporation treatment stages to will supply treated wastewater for industrial and horticultural purposes. Located at Bara in Jamshedpur, Jharkand State, the plant can treat up to 30,000m3/d of industrial and municipal wastewater.

The UF and RO treatment stages at the Bara plant are already in operation, with the ZLD component set to commence operation in the...

BAHAMAS – Fluence Corporation has revealed that it has secured a deal to operate the company’s first desalination plant in the Bahamas on a build, own, operate and transfer (BOOT) basis. The deal is for the supply and installation of three Fluence NIROBOX units at Rav Bahamas’ Resorts World Property. The NIROBOX desalination units are already built and have a capacity of 3,000 m³/d. Fluence will supply water to the resort and the surrounding community of North Bimini.^[1]

OMAN – The Barka Desalination Company has announced the opening of...

SAUDI ARABIA – The Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC) has signed an agreement to procure three floating desalination units set up on barges to provide a total capacity of 150,000 m³/d drinking water over a period of 20 years. Each floating desalination plant will have a capacity of 50,000 m³/d. The barges will be able to be moved and stationed part of the country in case of an urgent water shortage.  The floating desalination units will become operational in 15 months and will initially supply the Jazan and Asir provinces.^[1]

...

IRAN – The water desalination facility of Bandar Abbas in Hormozgan Province will complete its first development phase in July, according to the governor general of the province.  The plant will initially produce 20,000 m³/day and eventually reach a capacity of 100,000 m³ per day.  Since 2014 a total of twenty desalination units with capacities of 30,000 m³/d have been constructed in the province. An additional fifteen units with capacities of 20,000 m³/d are still under construction.^[1]

SINGAPORE – The Tuas III...

UAE – The Federal Electricity and Water Authority (FEWA) of UAE has selected a consortium led by ACWA Power and Tecton Engineering and Construction as the preferred bidder for the 204,574 m³/d Umm Al Quwain desalination project.  The project. FEWA will now begin a final round of contract discussions and aims to conclude the financial close in the third quarter of 2018.^[1]

USA – The Department of Energy (DOE) will award $21 million to new projects to advance solar-thermal desalination technologies. The funding will be distributed...

MEXICO – After months of delay, the Ensenada desalination plant in Baja California is set to begin operations in early July. The $42.9 million plant will provide 21,600 m³ of water per day to the local population.^[1] 

INDIA – Chennai is expected to run out of groundwater by 2020, according to Niti Aayog’s Composite Water Management Index. At the moment more than 200,000 to 300,000 m³ of groundwater is extracted—and with excessive extraction, there is considerable risk that the water will turn saline.

This pressure on limited...

ISRAEL – Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced that the Israeli government is launching a Farsi website with detailed plans on Israeli water conservation technologies and strategies in a purported attempt to direct information to the Iranian wastewater industry (which as of 2017 had increased its capacity by a quarter within a four-year period).^[1]  According to Netanyahu, millions of Iranians are suffering from the regime’s mismanagement and the theft of vital resources—and his nation’s experience in overcoming its own water...

INDONESIA – Jakarta’s Deputy Governor Sandiago Uno revealed that the city government is exploring the possibility of building a desalination program in Jakarta. After successfully installing a wastewater treatment plant, the governor has said that the city would be able to meet the energy requirements of a new facility.^[1]  

SOUTH AFRICA – A demonstration desalination plant using solar power will be built in Witsand, a town located 250 kilometres east of Cape Town. The $700,000 plant will be constructed by the French company...

USA – The Kay Bailey Hutchison Desalination Plant in El Paso, Texas is preparing to increase its production capacity. The facility—which produces up to 104,098 m³/day—is already the largest inland desalination plant in the world. 

Officials have initiated a three-phase expansion process. The first phase consists of improvements for the well field which provides water to the plant, the second entails upgrades to the plant itself, and the third will implement the capacity expansion. The expansion scheme is expected to take roughly ten...

QATAR – The water production stage at the Umm Al Houl Power Plant has been completed and the power generation phase should soon be complete as well. The plant is one of the largest power and desalination plants in the Gulf region, with a water production capacity of 618,268 m³/d, of which 227,124 m³/d is produced using reverse osmosis and 2,520 megawatts of electricity per day. The plant is expected to increase the country’s existing water and electricity capacity by 25 percent. The official opening of the plant is scheduled...

AUSTRALIA – Hunter Water is seeking planning approval for a temporary desalination plant at Belmont as an insurance policy in case of drought. The plant would be constructed if water storage levels drop to 35 percent, and would be decommissioned if levels subsequently rose to 50 percent. The plant would be a last resort if water conservation measures, including increased recycling of waste water, relining of Black Hill Reservoir and conservation awareness campaigns, are not sufficient.^[1]

NAMIBIA – The Governor of Erongo, Cleophas...

INDIA – The Federation of Kutch Industries Association (FOKIA) is considering purchasing water from private desalination plants to meet their water needs. Due to a severe water shortage the Gujarat Water Infrastructure Limited (GWIL) has stopped supplying water from its Anjar-Mandavi pipeline to industrial units, and limited supply to units in Kutch. As a result, FOKIA has requested the state government to allow water supply from private desalination plants to industrial units through the pipeline network of GWIL. In a letter to chief...

SAUDI ARABIA – The sale of the Ras Al-Khair desalination facility—the largest in the world—has been described as a “game-changer” in a document outlining the future of the country’s vast privatization program. Officials have extolled the significance of the sale of the 1,025,000 m³/day hybrid plant despite delays to the the brownfield privatization scheme laid out by the plant’s owner, the Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC). Although an RFP had been expected to materialise early this year, the company’s deputy governor Abdullah...

SAUDI ARABIA – The Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC) has completed the installation of the world’s largest multi-effect distillation desalination unit at Shoaiba.^[1] The plant has a capacity of 92,000 m³/day and is expected to pump water to Makkah and other areas before the start of the Hajj season in August.  The project was implemented by SWCC in collaboration with ACWA Power & Sasakura in order to expand the Shoaiba 2 desalination plant.

Meanwhile, the rapidly decreasing cost of photovoltaics (PV) has led industry...

OMAN – Earlier this week Oman Power and Water Procurement Company (OPWP) signed an agreement for the construction of a $155.8 million desalination plant at Salalah. The consortium contracted for the project is comprised of ACWA Power Saudi Arabia, Veolia Middle East and Dhofar International Development and Investment Holding Company.^[1]

The plant will have a production capacity of 113,650 m³/day and will be built in the Ashur Plain in the Wilayat of Mirbat in Dhofar Governorate. The plant is expected to be operational by 2020. ACWA Power...

IRAN – Hyflux has announced that it has secured a contract with Asia Water Development Engineering Company (AWDEC) for the design, manufacturing and supply of a seawater reverse osmosis desalination project in Bandar Abbas. Local marine, civil and structural works are excluded from the $110.7 million project, but there is an option for add-ons such as equipment and technical advisors, which is valued at $12.9 million.^[1]

The project is part of the proposed Saghi Kosar (SAKO) Desalination and Power Plant in Bandar Abbas. The desalination plant...

SPAIN – Increases in output at the Torrevieja desalination plant is planned after a reported 45 million ($55 million) investment from the Spanish government. A local source reported that the announcement by the minister of agriculture and environment, Isabel Garcia Teherina, was made during a visit to the facility last week.

The Torrevieja plant has a design capacity of 240,000m³/d, but at present only produces around half of that quantity. The first increase in output is scheduled to be complete by the end of summer this year, and would...

ABU DHABI has restructured its water and energy sector, incorporating both the emirate’s Water & Electricity Authority (ADWEA) and Regulation & Supervision Bureau into a newly created Department of Energy.^[1] This follows Sheikh Khalifa’s establishment of several new government departments for the emirate.

The new department will also inherit majority stakes in desalination projects held by the Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA), in which ADWEA owns a 74% share.

INDIA – The Gujarat state government plans to build a seawater...

CALIFORNIA – The city of Antioch has been selected to receive a $10 million grant from the state of California to invest into the construction of a $62 million desalination plant. ^[1] The grant will be funded by a water bond under California’s Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014 (Proposition 1), which so far has authorized over $7 billion in general bonds for state and municipal water projects. Antioch is among eight communities selected to receive a share of  $34 million in state money for desalination...

CHILE – State-owned mining company Codelco has received approval from environmental authorities to build a $1 billion desalination plant in the Antofagasta region. This will enable Codelco, the largest copper producer in the world, to expand its Radomiro Tomic mine and increase investment in its water-intensive mining operations in one of the driest regions in the world. With a capacity of 54,000m³/d, the desalination plant will be the second-largest in Chile.^[1] 

INDIA – The Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) is...

TAIWAN – Approval of Formosa Petrochemical Corporation’s desalination project at its naphta cracker facility in Yunlin County has received initial approval following environmental impact assessment (EIA), but is still awaiting a further review to “request the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) to relax certain regulations.”

The project involves a seawater desalination plant with a total capacity of 105,000 cubic metres per day, which will treat water discharged from the Mailiao power plant, which is also operated by Formosa. The...

SAUDI ARABIA – Energy Recovery, Inc has announced total awards of $6.2 to supply its PX-Q300 pressure exchangers technology for desalination projects in Saudi Arabia.^[1]  The components will be used in multiple facilities with a combined output capacity of 305,000 cubic metres of water per day.  According to Energy Recovery’s estimates, these PX devices will save 291 Gigawatts of energy per year and will reduce the desalination plant’s carbon emissions by 174,000 tons annually.  The PX pressure exchanger devices are expected...

SOUTH AFRICA – Cape Town’s Koeberg nuclear power station has launched a fully operational groundwater desalination plant.^[1] The plant will take care of the power station’s water demands and allow the station to be independent of the city’s water supply.  Koeberg is Africa’s only nuclear power station, and provides 50 percent of the Western Cape’s energy demands.

According to Velaphi Ntuli, the Koeberg Power Station Manager, the launch of the desalination plant forms part of a three-pronged water management strategy to address the acute...