Acwa Power starts production at new Shuaibah plant
3 April 2025
The new seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) technology-based plant in Shuaibah, Saudi Arabia, has started water production following the decommissioning of the old plant running on multi-stage flash (MSF) technology.
The new plant will cater to the water needs of Jeddah and Makkah Al-Mukarramah, especially during peak demand periods such as the Ramadan and Hajj seasons.
Saudi utility developer Acwa Power CEO Marco Arcelli said in a social media post that the company has begun producing “green” water from the new SWRO plant in Shuaibah following the decommissioning of the old MSF desalination plant there.
“We bid farewell to the first ever Acwa Power plant to jump into the future with one of the most efficient and green plants in the world, reducing power consumption by 87%, integrating 65MW of locally produced solar power, and bringing 22 million barrels of oil and 9 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually to zero,” Arcelli said.
The old MSF-based plant was part of the first independent water and power project (IWPP) to be developed in Saudi Arabia when the government opened the market for private investment. It became operational in 2010.
Acwa Power, Shuaibah Water Electricity Company (Swec) and Saudi Water Partnership Company (SWPC) agreed to convert the water desalination component of the Shuaibah 3 IWPP into an SWRO plant in June 2022.
At the time, the stakeholders announced that “operations of Shuaibah 3 IWPP will cease in 2025, saving nearly 45 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions and 22 million barrels of light crude oil annually”.
A consortium led by Acwa Power and Public Investment Fund (PIF)-owned Badeel is developing the new facility, known as the Shuaibah 3 independent water project (IWP), at a cost of approximately SR3bn ($800m).
It will produce 600,000 cubic metres of water a day once complete.
The Acwa Power-led team agreed to have 40% local content in the construction phase and 50% in the operation and maintenance phase for the first five years, which will eventually increase to 70%.
Swec is the project company that developed, financed and operated the Shuaibah 3 IWPP. It comprised Acwa Power (30%); a Malaysian consortium of Tenaga Nasional, Malakoff Berhad and Khazanah Nasional (30%); PIF (32%); and Saudi Electricity Company (8%).
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