Durrat Al Bahrain has awarded a 25-year concession to design, build and operate its sea water desalination plant to Energy Central.

The plant will serve the irrigation needs of the Kingdom’s largest planned luxury residential, commercial and tourist resort development.

The extensive landscaped areas of the $6 billion Durrat Al Bahrain, including its 15 islands, the commercial centre of Durrat Al Bahrain and its Ernie Els designed championship golf course, will be irrigated by water from the desalination plant located on the mainland at a distance from the resort. The development will benefit from a constant water supply ensuring all gardens, communal parklands, and sporting facilities can flourish.

Jassim Al-Jowder, CEO of Durrat Al Bahrain, said: “One of the unique characteristics of Durrat Al Bahrain is that it offers distinctively green surroundings, and it is crucial for us to choose suppliers who offer environmentally conscious solutions. Energy Central’s services comply with our stringent requirements, regulatory standards, and international environmental guidelines. We are confident that Energy Central will deliver high quality services, which meet Durrat Al Bahrain’s excellence in design and development.”

Khalil Issa, Energy Central CEO, said: “Part of our vision is to encourage regional urban growth by building and operating state of the art plants to large-scale developments such as Durrat Al Bahrain. We are ever mindful of the environment and ensure that all our plants comply with international environmental standards.”

The installation and capacity of the desalination treatment facility will be staged to suit the various phases of the resort’s development, ensuring a steady supply of irrigated water as villa owners take up residence and Durrat’s extensive facilities become fully operational.

The desalination project will operate by reverse osmosis, the preferred system for developments of this size due to its flexibility. The plant will become operational in stages, starting with a capacity of 4,000 cubic meters per day (CMD) in 2007 scaling up to 20,000 CMD by 2009, and reaching its full capacity in excess of 30,000 CMD thereafter.  –TradeArabia News Service