UAE begins massive reverse osmosis buildup
11 April 2023
This package on the UAE's water sector also includes:
> Dewa extends Hassyan IWP bid deadline
> Adnoc resumes Project Wave negotiations
> Sharjah issues first independent water tender
> Ewec rules out solar in desalination projects
> French/local team wins contract to build Mirfa 2 IWP
> Adnoc selects Cobra-led team for PPP project
State utilities in the UAE are seeking to increase the share of seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) technology in the overall capacity of their desalination plants in line with their carbon emission reduction targets and the UAE’s net-zero by 2050 goal.
This will end the domination of water production capacity by thermal desalination plants over the past decades.
The demand for additional SWRO capacity is especially evident in Abu Dhabi, where nearly half of the existing water desalination capacity will come out of contract between 2025 and 2029.
The power- and water-purchase agreements (P/WPA) for four major utility plants in Abu Dhabi, with a total combined water desalination capacity of 441 million imperial gallons a day (MIGD), will expire during this period.
Unlike the thermal power plant components of these independent water and power projects (IWPPs), which are subject to extension negotiations, the state utility Emirates Water & Electricity Company (Ewec) is inclined to dismantle all thermal desalination plants associated with these assets – or convert them into SWRO plants – upon the expiry of their contracts. This strategy aligns with its goal to halve its carbon emissions.
Over the next two to four years, Ewec envisages putting 290MIGD of SWRO capacity in place. This is in addition to the Taweelah SWRO plant’s remaining 100MIGD of capacity that is yet to enter commercial operation. Once this plant is at full capacity, it will plug in the capacity from Taweelah A2, the emirate’s first thermal IWPP, which was mothballed in 2021.
Recent SWRO projects in Abu Dhabi include the 120MIGD Mirfa 2 independent water producer (IWP) project, which France’s Engie is developing; the 70MIGD Shuweihat 4 IWPHudayriat and Saadiyat islands, which will each have a capacity of 50MIGD.
RELATED READ: Mirfa 2 award sends positive market signal
Both Mirfa 2 and Shuweihat 4 have a target commercial operation date of 2025, while the two Abu Dhabi Islands IWP projects are expected to provide replacement capacity for the Sas al-Nakhl plant, whose contract expires in 2027.
Longer term, Ewec will need to procure 494MIGD of SWRO capacity by 2036, under the base-case scenario of its 2023-29 Statement of Future Capacity Requirements.
Demand fluctuations
Demand for desalinated water in Abu Dhabi over the short term is anticipated to decrease from just under 800MIGD in 2022 to 764MIGD this year. This is due to reduced exports to Etihad Water & Electricity (Ewe), which is commissioning its first 150MIGD IWP in Umm al-Quwain.
Demand is expected to grow slowly between 2023 and 2029, when it is projected to reach 805MIGD. This is just slightly higher than in 2022, primarily due to recycled water replacing desalinated water as the dominant irrigation supply source.
In Dubai, the procurement process is under way for the 120MIGD Hassyan IWP. The contract for the emirate’s first IWP was tendered before and awarded in 2020, but the project stalled and Dewa relaunched the tender in 2022.
Four teams led by Engie, Saudi Arabia’s Acwa Power, Spain/South Korea’s GS Inima and Metito are understood to be among those qualified to bid for the contract.
The project has a planned capacity of 120MIGD, with an alternative proposal for an aggregate capacity of 180MIGD. Dewa expects to commission it in phases between 2025 and 2026.
The facility is part of Dewa’s plan to increase its water desalination production capacity from 490MIGD to 750MIGD by 2030. By this time, it envisages RO to account for 41 per cent of its overall desalination capacity, in support of Dubai’s 2050 Clean Energy Strategy.
Northern emirates
As previously stated, the Northern Emirates’ first 150MIGD IWP in Umm al-Quwain is undergoing commissioning. This frees up capacity for Abu Dhabi, which has been exporting both water and electricity to the smaller northern UAE emirates.
In early April, Sharjah Electricity & Water Authority also issued the request for proposals for the contract to develop Sharjah’s first IWP. Located next to an existing desalination plant in Hamriyah, the planned IWP will have a capacity of 90MIGD.
UAE power sector shapes up ahead of Cop28
Other projects
Abu Dhabi Sewerage Services Company is evaluating proposals received earlier this year for a contract to design and build a treated sewage effluent (TSE) polishing plant in Al-Wathba.
The plant is expected to have a design capacity of 700,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d), with the potential to expand this capacity to 950,000 cm/d in a subsequent phase. The TSE facility will produce water for higher-end applications than the TSE produced at standard sewage treatment plants.
The largest individual projects within the sector are the two seawater treatment plants, frequently called Project Wave, being procured by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc).
The Mirfa and Al-Nouf nanofiltration plants and their associated utilities have budgets of between $2bn and $2.5bn each. The Mirfa package is in the advanced procurement stage, with negotiations continuing between Adnoc and the shortlisted bidders as this article is published.
This month's special report on the UAE also includes:
> UAE power sector shapes up ahead of Cop28
> Strategic Adnoc projects register notable progress
> UAE lenders chart a route to growth
Register for MEED's guest program now to access this article.
Exclusive from Meed
-
Dubai advances Auto Market construction6 May 2026
-
-
-
-
All of this is only 1% of what MEED.com has to offer
Subscribe now and unlock all the 153,671 articles on MEED.com
- All the latest news, data, and market intelligence across MENA at your fingerprints
- First-hand updates and inside information on projects, clients and competitors that matter to you
- 20 years' archive of information, data, and news for you to access at your convenience
- Strategize to succeed and minimise risks with timely analysis of current and future market trends
Related Articles
-
Dubai advances Auto Market construction
6 May 2026
The construction works on the Dubai Auto Market, which is set to become one of the world’s largest and most advanced automotive trading hubs, are progressing.
Enabling works are under way, being carried out by local contractor Rad International Road Construction.
US-based engineering firm Aecom is serving as the project consultant.
In November last year, Dubai Municipality signed a partnership agreement with DP World’s Economic Zones division to establish and manage the market, as MEED reported. Under the agreement, DP World will provide integrated logistics and zone management services, including e-commerce and trade finance solutions.
The Dubai Auto Market will span a 22 million-square-foot complex, to be developed by DP World. It is planned to include more than 1,500 showrooms, clustered workshop zones, warehouses and multi-storey parking facilities, alongside a convention centre, hotel, auction house, retail outlets, and food and beverage areas.
The facility is designed to handle more than 800,000 vehicles a year, including new and used electric, hybrid and conventional models.
The UAE’s construction industry is projected to expand by 5% in real terms in 2026, supported by rising foreign direct investment (FDI), growth in the construction sector and increased oil sector activity.
According to the UAE’s Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Centre, construction value added rose by 8.8% year on year (YoY) in Q2 2025, following YoY growth of 7% in Q1 2025 and 10.8% in Q4 2024.
The commercial construction sector is forecast to grow by 6.4% in 2026 and to record average annual growth of 4.9% from 2027 to 2030, supported by investment in tourism and hotel facilities.
The industrial construction sector is expected to expand by 4.1% in real terms in 2026, then to average 4.4% annually from 2027 to 2030, supported by improved investment in manufacturing facilities.
The infrastructure construction sector is projected to grow by 5.8% in real terms in 2026, before averaging 4.3% annual growth from 2027 to 2030, supported by the government’s focus on improving regional connectivity through road and rail development.
https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16700367/main.png -
Saudi Arabia extends bid deadline for solar projects
6 May 2026
Saudi Arabia’s principal buyer, Saudi Power Procurement Company (SPPC), has extended the deadline for developers bidding for four solar projects under the seventh round of the National Renewable Energy Programme (NREP).
Round seven of the NREP comprises solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind independent power producer (IPP) projects with a combined capacity of 5,300MW. The renewables programme is being led and supervised by the Ministry of Energy.
The four solar PV projects comprise:
- 1,400MW Tabjal 2 solar PV IPP (Tabrijal, Al-Jouf province)
- 600MW Mawqqaq solar PV IPP (Mawqqaq, Hail province)
- 600MW Tathleeth solar PV IPP (Tathleeth, Aseer province)
- 500MW South Al-Ula solar PV IPP (Al-Ula, Medina province)
The projects were tendered in January, with an initial bid submission deadline of 30 April.
The new deadline is 30 June.
The solar projects are the latest in a string of large-scale power and water developments across the region to have bidding extended in recent weeks.
In the UAE, the bid deadline for the seventh phase of Dubai Electricity & Water Authority’s Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum Solar Park was recently pushed back to 1 July.
Bids for the 1,300MW Bilgah and 900MW Shagra wind IPPs are currently still due by 14 May, according to a source.
In January, MEED reported that 16 developers qualified to bid as both managing and technical members for the four solar PV projects under the seventh round of the NREP.
These include:
- Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar)
- Alfanar Company (Saudi Arabia)
- Al-Gihaz Holding Company (Saudi Arabia)
- EDF Power Solutions (France)
- Kahrabel (Engie) (UAE / France)
- Sembcorp Utilities (Singapore)
- Jinko Power (HK) (China)
- TotalEnergies Renewables (France)
- Al-Jomaih Energy & Water (Saudi Arabia)
- Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco) (South Korea)
- Nesma Renewable Energy (Saudi Arabia)
- Korea Western Power (South Korea)
- Marubeni Corporation (Japan)
- SPIC Shanghai Electric Power (China)
- WahajPeak Holdings (Saudi Arabia)
- FAS Energy for Trading Company (Saudi Arabia)
A further six companies qualified to bid as a managing member only for the solar PV projects. These include:
- Saudi Electricity Company (Saudi Arabia)
- Grupo Empresarial Enhol (Spain)
- Power Construction Corporation of China (Power China) (China)
- GD Power Development (China)
- Gulf Development Public Company (Thailand)
- Reliance NU Energies Private (India)
The renewable energy programme aims to supply 50% of the kingdom’s electricity from renewable energy by 2030.
Earlier rounds under the NREP have already put in place large capacities. Last October, SPPC awarded contracts to develop and operate five renewable energy projects under round six of the NREP.
These comprise four solar PV IPP projects and one wind IPP project with a total combined capacity of 4,500MW.
READ THE MAY 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDFGlobal energy sector forced to recalibrate; Conflict hits debt issuance and listings activity; UAE’s non-oil sector faces unclear recovery period amid disruption.
Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the May 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
> REGIONAL LNG: War undermines business case for Middle East LNG> CAPITAL MARKETS: Damage avoidance frames debt issuance> MARKET FOCUS: Conflict tests UAE diversificationTo see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click herehttps://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16700361/main.jpg -
EtihadWE awards EPC contract for Fujairah IWP
6 May 2026
Etihad Water & Electricity (EtihadWE) has awarded an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the Fujairah 1 independent water producer (IWP) project.
The agreement was signed with a consortium of UAE-based NMDC Infra and Spain’s Lantania Aguas.
The EPC works will be delivered by Lantania NMDC Water. The company was formed after NMDC Infra acquired a 51% stake in Lantania Aguas in January 2026.
Fujairah 1 is the second desalination project procured by EtihadWE under a public-private partnership (PPP) model. It follows the 150-million-imperial-gallon-a-day (MIGD) Naqa’a IWP in Umm Al-Quwain.
The project involves developing a 60 MIGD seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination plant. The total investment is valued at AED1.046bn ($285m), the utility said in a statement.
The plant will be located at the Port of Fujairah on the Gulf of Oman and will include storage capacity equivalent to 18 hours of production.
Construction is expected to take about 30 months. Initial operations will begin at partial capacity, followed by ramp-up to full output.
Details of the water offtake agreement for Fujairah 1 have not been disclosed. EtihadWE previously signed a 35-year water-purchase agreement for the Naqa’a project.
Mohammed Al-Shehhi, CEO of the development and investment arm of EtihadWE, said the company is “currently developing multiple SWRO projects to be announced in due course”.
In January, Dubai International Financial Centre-based Deloitte Professional Services submitted the lowest bid for a contract to provide consultancy services to Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (Dewa) and EtihadWE.
The contract scope includes conducting a pre-feasibility study for an SWRO IWP and water transmission pipelines project.
The study will assess potential project sites, optimal plant capacity, technical and commercial parameters and the viability of associated water transmission infrastructure.
According to a source, the study’s consultant has not yet been appointed.
https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16700218/main.jpg -
June deadline for Riyadh section of Saudi Landbridge
6 May 2026
Saudi Arabia Railways (SAR) has set a 2 June bid submission deadline for a design-and-build contract to construct the Riyadh Rail Link, a new railway line running north to south across Riyadh.
The tender was issued on 29 January. The previous bid submission deadline was 29 April.
The scope of work includes constructing a 35-kilometre-long double-track railway line connecting SAR’s North-South railway to the Eastern railway network.
The contract also covers the procurement, construction and installation of associated infrastructure such as viaducts, civil works, utility installations, signalling systems and other related works.
The project is expected to form a key component of the Saudi Landbridge railway.
In January, SAR said it would deliver the Saudi Landbridge project through a “new mechanism” by 2034, after failing to reach an agreement with a Chinese consortium to construct it, as MEED reported.
In an interview with local media, SAR CEO Bashar Bin Khalid Al-Malik said the consortium failed to meet local content requirements and that the project would now be delivered in several phases under a different procurement model.
The project has been under negotiation between Saudi Arabia and China-backed investors keen to develop it through a public-private partnership.
Al-Malik said that the project cost is about SR100bn ($26.6bn).
It comprises more than 1,500km of new track. The core component is a 900km new railway between Riyadh and Jeddah, which will provide direct freight access to the capital from King Abdullah Port on the Red Sea.
Other key sections include upgrading the existing Riyadh-Dammam line, a bypass around the capital called the Riyadh Link, and a link between King Abdullah Port and Yanbu.
The Saudi Landbridge is one of the kingdom’s most anticipated project programmes. Plans to develop it were first announced in 2004, but put on hold in 2010 before being revived a year later. Key stumbling blocks were rights-of-way issues, route alignment and its high cost.
.gif)
https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16698846/main.jpg -
Bid deadline extended for Kuwait oil pipeline
6 May 2026
State-owned upstream operator Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) has extended the bid deadline for a project to develop a crude oil pipeline in the country.
The invitation to bid was originally tendered in October last year, with a bid deadline of 18 January 2026.
Since then, the deadline has been extended several times, and the latest announced bid deadline is 31 May 2026.
The new pipeline will have a diameter of 20 inches and will carry the crude oil blend known as Ratawi-Burgen.
The project scope will involve replacing a 30-kilometre section of the pipeline known as CR-058.
The pipeline originates from the Wafra field and feeds crude oil into the larger 36-inch CR-088 crude oil pipeline.
The pipelines on this network have had documented corrosion issues in the past, which were linked to slow flow rates within the pipelines.
The Wafra field is located in the Partitioned Zone between Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
Both countries equally share the natural resources contained in this region.
Kuwait is currently pushing to increase its oil production capacity.
In 2024, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation’s chief executive, Sheikh Nawaf Al-Sabah, reiterated that his company plans to increase Kuwait’s oil production capacity to 4 million barrels a day (b/d) by 2035.
In September last year, Kuwaiti Oil Minister Tareq Al‑Roumi announced that the country’s oil production capacity had reached 3.2 million b/d, its highest level in more than 10 years.
Kuwait had a similar capacity in the late 2000s, peaking at a recorded 3.3 million b/d in 2010.
Since the US and Israel’s attack on Iran on 28 February, Kuwait’s oil and gas sector has been rocked by the disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, through which all of the country’s crude is normally exported.
Kuwait recorded zero crude oil exports in April for the first time since the end of the Gulf War in 1991, according to shipping monitor TankerTrackers.com.
READ THE MAY 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDFGlobal energy sector forced to recalibrate; Conflict hits debt issuance and listings activity; UAE’s non-oil sector faces unclear recovery period amid disruption.
Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the May 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
> REGIONAL LNG: War undermines business case for Middle East LNG> CAPITAL MARKETS: Damage avoidance frames debt issuance> MARKET FOCUS: Conflict tests UAE diversificationTo see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click herehttps://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16691664/main5905.jpg