$6.1bn Saudi desalination project on track
Riyadh, June 8, 2013
Saudi utility giant Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC) said its upcoming desalination project, being built at a cost of SR23 billion ($6.1 billion) at Ras Al-Khair, was 75 per cent complete and was on track to start production in the third quarter.
The SWCC plant, said to be the world's largest desalination project, will boast of a capacity of more than one million cubic meters of desalinated water and 2,400MW of electricity, reported the Arab News.
The plants at Jubail indusrial area will cater to the the power needs of Al-Maaden Company, its stated. The Ras Al-Khair plant will supply Maaden factories with 25,000 cu m of desalinated water and 1,350MW of electricity.
As per the contract, SWCC has started providing electricity to the factories of Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) since last December.
The Saudi utility firm will produce 416MW at the beginning of the third quarter and boost its output to 830MW by the end of the year. Water production will begin from the reverse osmosis unit by the end of this year, with a supply of 150,000 cu m, said the report.
It will also supply Riyadh and the central region cities with 900,000 cu m of desalinated water, and cities north of the Eastern Province including Al-Nuairiya, Hafr Al-Baten, Al-Qarya, Al-Olaya, Al-Saeera and Al-Qasuma with 100,000 cu m of desalinated water by 2014.
