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Acwa Power taps new desalination technology

13 September 2022

Saudi Arabia-based utilities developer and investor Acwa Power has signed an industrial development agreement with research and technology company Water Global Access to integrate hydraulic injection desalination (HID) technology across Acwa Power’s projects.

Research shows HID technology has the potential to break the 2 kilowatt an hour (kWh) barrier of energy consumption to produce 1 cubic metre of water from seawater, according to Acwa Power.

The agreement will involve implementing a pilot project that includes HID in the GCC region. It comes six months after both companies signed a collaboration agreement to develop a roadmap for HID across Acwa Power’s projects.

Energy consumption in desalination plants is also referred to as the total specific energy consumption.

According to Acwa Power, HID’s results indicate a step change from the most energy-efficient commercial seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination facilities, which consume approximately 3 kWh/cubic metre of water.

HID technology also resulted in “more than 10 per cent improvement compared to the current Guinness book record for an SWRO pilot plant of 2.271 kWh to produce a cubic metre of water”.

Total specific energy consumption is a metric that directly impacts the operating costs of a desalination facility.

For private companies that operate in the same industry, desalinated water is sold to governments on long-term contracts over a fixed tariff.

“With its low energy footprint, HID technology has the potential to lower operational costs for our desalination business, which we hope will lead to lower tariffs in the long term,” said Acwa Power vice-chairman and CEO Paddy Padmanathan.

“For governments, this means that it is more affordable to produce water. For investors, this could mean higher profits per facility. And for communities, it means they are getting usable water with the least impact on the environment.”

Some $6bn-worth of water desalination projects are under execution across the GCC states, MEED Projects data shows. 

Schemes over twice that value – $14.5bn – are being planned, with Saudi Arabia accounting for nearly two-thirds of the total.

Photo: Acwa Power

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Jennifer Aguinaldo

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