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  Tabreed eyes geothermal cooling for data centres

  18 September 2024

  

   

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  Following the successful implementation of a geothermal cooling plant proof of concept in Masdar City in Abu Dhabi, the National Central Cooling Company (Tabreed) is considering potential pilot projects for geothermal cooling plants for data centres.

  "Heat from geothermal wells, along with the heat produced by the data centre facility, can be captured and used to supply power for cooling the data centre," Khalid Marzooqi, Tabreed chief executive, told MEED on the sidelines of the ongoing World Utilities Congress in Abu Dhabi. 

  Marzooqi said Tabreed is talking to several data centre service providers and soliciting proposals for a potential pilot project.

  "Sustainability is a big ticket item for data centres," said Marzooqi, adding that a remotely located, off-grid data centre could be an ideal first project, where geothermal wells can be drilled within five to 10 metres of the facility to supply power to a captive power or cooling plant.

  Tabreed and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) announced the start of operations in December 2023 at G2Cool, a district cooling project harnessing geothermal energy. The geothermal cooling plant provides 10% of Masdar City's requirements.

  The two geothermal wells have temperatures exceeding 90 degrees centigrade and flow rates of approximately 100 litres a second.

  The doublet provides hot water that is fed into absorption cooling technology to produce chilled water, which is then utilised for Tabreed’s district cooling activities.

  The two geothermal wells being utilised for the project were drilled in 2009-10 under a project carried out with Iceland's Reykjavik Geothermal.

  "Advancements in geothermal and district cooling technologies, as well as development at Masdar City, compelled the partners to revisit the project," Tabreed and Adnoc, which is financing the project, said in December.

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  Jennifer Aguinaldo
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  Taqa Water Solutions to launch TSE plant project

  18 September 2024

  

   

  Taqa Water Solutions, formerly Abu Dhabi Sustainable Water Solutions, is reviewing a previous plan to procure an advanced treated sewage effluent (TSE) plant that has an initial design capacity of 750,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d).

  A plan to procure the project could be launched in line with the emirate's circular carbon economy push, Nader Assad Bin Taher, chief operating officer of Taqa Water Solutions, told MEED on the sidelines of the ongoing World Utilities Congress in Abu Dhabi.

  He said that the process is under way to finalise the way forward for the project, which might eventually have a bigger capacity than initially planned.

  MEED understands that the final procurement model for the project is also being discussed.

  MEED reported in February 2023 that five companies and consortiums had submitted bids for the engineering, procurement and construction contract.

  Among those that submitted proposals for the contract on 23 January were Spain's Acciona, UAE-based Tecton Engineering, and a team comprising Spanish contractor Abengoa and local contracting company Emarat Aloula.

  It is understood that the project has been put on hold following the expiry of bid bonds.

  The initial plan entailed a TSE plant that is expected to have a design capacity of 700,000 cm/d, with the potential to expand this capacity to 950,000 cm/d in a subsequent phase, as MEED reported.

  The TSE facility will produce water for higher-end applications compared to TSE produced in a standard sewage treatment plant.

  Twelve individual companies and teams were prequalified to bid for the contract in 2022. They were:

  • Abengoa (Spain)
  • Acciona (Spain)
  • Aqualia (Spain)
  • Aquatech (local)
  • Hydropower / BEWG (Germany)
  • Metito / GCC
  • Six Construct (local) / Veolia (France)
  • Sepco 3 (China)
  • Tecnicas Reunidas (Italy)
  • Tecton (local)
  • VA Tech Wabag (India)
  • Orascom (Egypt) / Cobra (Spain)

  The scheme is one of the first major water treatment projects to be launched in Abu Dhabi in recent years.

  Canada’s Stantec is the project’s technical consultant. 

  Bin Taher also confirmed that the bid evaluation process is under way for smaller TSE polishing plant in Abu Dhabi. Located in Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (Kizad), the plant has a capacity of 25 million litres a day, or about 25,000 cm/d.

  Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa) announced the completion of its agreement to acquire Sustainable Water Solutions Holding Company (SWS Holding), formerly Abu Dhabi Sewerage Services Company, for AED1.7bn ($463m), earlier this month.

  SWS Holding is the sole entity responsible for wastewater collection and treatment, as well as the production of recycled water in Abu Dhabi.

  Taqa announced the rebranding of the company as Taqa Water Solutions in mid-September.

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  Jennifer Aguinaldo
• 
  Saudi Arabia tenders Riyadh Metro Line 7

  18 September 2024

  

   

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  The Royal Commission for Riyadh City (RCRC) has issued the request for proposal notice to selected firms to design and build Line 7 of the Riyadh Metro project.

  MEED understands that the client issued the tender notice in mid-September. The RCRC has given consortiums six months to prepare the bids.

  The submission deadline is 10 March 2025.

  The RCRC received prequalification forms from contractors for the tender in February this year.

  MEED previously reported that several of the consortiums planning to bid for the contract to deliver Line 7 of the Riyadh Metro have changed. Some civil contractors have joined teams, while others have decided not to participate in the tender.

  According to sources close to the project, the consortiums planning to bid for the project include:

  • Alstom (France) / FCC (Spain) / Freysinnet Contracting (local) / WeBuild (Italy) / Nesma (local) 
  • Siemens (Germany) / Samsung C+T (South Korea) / Acciona (Spain) / Alayuni (local)
  • Hitachi Rail (Japan) / OHLA (Spain) / Daewoo (South Korea) / Hyundai E&C (South Korea) / Almabani (local) / Albawani (local)
  • CRRC (China) / Mapa (Turkiye) / Limak (Turkiye)

  Spanish consulting firms Typsa and Ayesa, along with US-based Aecom, are the design consultants for the Alstom-led consortium.

  Spain-headquartered Idom, South Korea’s Dowha and Switzerland’s Pini are the designers for the Siemens-led team.

  Spanish engineering firm Sener is the design consultant for the Hitachi Rail-led group.

  The project involves constructing a metro line linking Qiddiya Entertainment City, King Abdullah International Gardens, King Salman Park, Misk City and Diriyah Gate. The total length of the line will be about 65 kilometres (km), of which 47km will be underground and 19km will be elevated.

  The line will have 19 stations, 14 of which will be built underground and five overground. 

  The consultants working on the scheme are France’s Egis and Lebanon-based Dar Al-Handasah, according to regional project tracker MEED Projects.

  In June 2020, a joint venture led by French consultancy Systra won the preliminary design contract for the second phase of Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh Metro.

  Riyadh Metro

  Riyadh Metro’s first phase features six lines with 84 stations.

  In November 2022, the RCRC struck a deal with three contracting consortiums working on the Riyadh Metro scheme regarding the completion of the project’s remaining works.

  Construction activity on the project had slowed in recent years due to disputes over prolongation and the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The RCRC awarded the main construction packages for the scheme on 28 July 2013.

  The Fast consortium won lines 4, 5 and 6, reportedly valued at $7.82bn. The Bacs consortium was awarded lines 1 and 2 for $9.45bn, while Arriyadh New Mobility secured Line 3 for $5.21bn.

  US firm Bechtel leads the Bacs consortium. Italian firm Ansaldo STS is the leader of the Arriyadh New Mobility group, and Spanish firm FCC Construccion heads the Fast consortium.

  AtkinsRealis has delivered programme management and supervision services for the operations and maintenance of the Riyadh Metro scheme.

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  Yasir Iqbal
• 
  Al-Ajban solar IPP reaches financial close

  18 September 2024

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  A project company led by French utility developer EDF Renewables and South Korea's Korea Western Power Company (Kowepo), and Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar), have reached financial close on the 1,500MW Al-Ajban solar photovoltaic (PV) independent power project (IPP) in Abu Dhabi.

  According to Masdar, financing for the project has been secured from the following banks and financial institutions:

  • BNP Paribas (France)
  • Credit Agricole (France)
  • Standard Chartered Bank (UK)
  • HSBC Middle East (UK)
  • Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC, Japan)
  • Export-Import Bank of Korea (Kexim, South Korea)

  In April, following a successful bid submission, the project company owned by EDF Renewables and Kowepo, in which each has a 20% stake as lead members, and Masdar as the local shareholder with a 60% stake, signed a 30-year power-purchase agreement with Emirates Water & Electricity Company (Ewec).

  The EDF-led team submitted the lowest levelised electricity cost of 5.1921 fils a kilowatt-hour (kWh) or about 1.413 $cents/kWh for the Al-Ajban solar PV IPP contract, MEED reported in July 2023.

  The project company will design, finance, build and operate the plant, which is to be located 70 kilometres northeast of Abu Dhabi. 

  In July, the developer team awarded Powerchina Huadong Engineering Corporation the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the project.

  It is the second major contract that the French-South Korean team has won in the GCC since March last year. The team previously won the contract to develop and operate Oman's 500MW Manah 1 solar IPP.

  The same EPC contractor, Powerchina Huadong Engineering Corporation, is undertaking the EPC work for the Manah 1 IPP.

  Net-zero goals

  The Al-Ajban project – similar to the 1,584MW Al-Dhafra solar IPP, which was inaugurated in November, and the operational 935MW Noor Abu Dhabi plant – supports the UAE Energy Strategy 2050 and the UAE Net-Zero by 2050 strategic initiative.

  Ewec aims to install up to 17GW of solar PV capacity by 2035.

  The plan will require the procurement of about 1.5GW of capacity annually over the next 10 years. In the intervening period, ending in 2030, Ewec plans to have an additional 5GW of solar capacity, reaching a total solar installed capacity of 7.3GW by 2030.

  Ewec expects its first battery energy storage system to come online in the late 2020s to better balance the grid's load as more renewable energy enters the system.

  The UAE published its updated national energy strategy in July 2023. It includes a plan to triple the nationwide renewable energy capacity to 19GW by 2030.

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  Jennifer Aguinaldo
• 
  Bilfinger wins Egypt chemicals contract

  17 September 2024

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  The Germany-based industrial services provider Bilfinger has been awarded a project management consultancy (PMC) contract by Aswan-headquartered Egyptian Chemical Industries (Kima).

  The project is focused on the development of a new chemicals and fertiliser plant at Kima’s existing site in the city of Aswan, according to a statement.

  The new facility has an expected production capacity of 600 tons of nitric acid a day, and will significantly increase Kima’s local production capabilities when it is brought online.

  The 600 tons of nitric acid will be transformed into 800 tons of granulated ammonium nitrate of fertiliser quality.

  Abdel Meguid Heguazi, the chief executive of Kima, said: “As a worldwide exporter of chemical products, this new plant is crucial for growing our production capabilities in Aswan.

  “By the end of 2027, it will allow us to produce 800 tons of granulated ammonium nitrate in fertiliser quality per day, which will be delivered to clients locally and around the world.

  “We trust that Bilfinger will be the perfect solution partner to represent us in all project phases along the way and to make sure that we meet our targets most efficiently.” 

  The contract was signed on 12 August 2024, and subsequently Bilfinger’s branch in the Middle East has allocated a regional team of specialised engineers to provide independent design review and site supervision services.

  The team will also ensure that the third-party contractor consortium working on the project fulfils its obligations according to Kima’s expectations, the statement said.

  As the PMC contractor, Bilfinger will be representing Kima across all engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) stages of the project, including pre-commissioning, commissioning and performance testing. 

  Christian Rugland, the president for international engineering and maintenance work at Bilfinger, said: “With Kima, we are significantly expanding our involvement in Egypt and the region’s promising chemicals industry.

  “For this collaboration, we can build upon our deep engineering expertise gained with clients across industries in the Middle East.

  “Kima can expect the high standards we have set ourselves in line with our vision at Bilfinger to become the number one partner in enhancing efficiency and sustainability.”

  The project will have several different phases, with work being carried out both in Mumbai, India, and on site in Aswan.

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  Wil Crisp