Meed | UAE ramps up decarbonisation of water sector

UAE ramps up decarbonisation of water sector

10 October 2023

This package on the UAE's water sector also includes:

> Dewa signs Hassyan water project agreements
> Petrojet joins Project Wave contractor team
> Project Wave first phase reaches financial close
> Alpha Dhabi acquires majority stake in Metito
> Hatta reservoir nears completion
> Sharjah moves Hamriyah bid deadline

As a water-scarce country, the UAE has relied on non-conventional water, particularly seawater treated in desalination plants, to meet rising demand.

Over the past decade, the energy-intensive water treatment process, especially when using older technologies, has been a key focus for policymakers tasked with aligning industries with the country’s energy diversification and, more recently, net-zero carbon dioxide emissions agendas.

Decarbonising the water supply has entailed decoupling power and water production and improving the level of treated sewage effluent (TSE) reuse. Other initiatives involve modernising the water pipeline transmission network and tapping renewable energy to power desalination plants.

Demand management initiatives such as tariff reforms and awareness campaigns to make end users conscious of their consumption have also been put in place.

The past few months have marked several milestones in the country’s plan to decarbonise its water sector.

Two private water desalination plants that use reverse osmosis technology to treat seawater are in the final commissioning stage, expanding the UAE’s water production capacity from more energy-efficient plants.

These are the 200 million-imperial-gallon-a-day (MIGD) seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) plant in Taweela in Abu Dhabi and another plant in Umm al-Quwain, which has a capacity of 150MIGD.

Abu Dhabi’s second major SWRO project, the 120MIGD Mirfa 2 independent water producer (IWP), also reached financial close this year.

Crucially, Abu Dhabi dismantled the thermal-powered Taweelah A2 independent water and power producer (IWPP) plant last year, following the expiry of its long-term offtake contract. The plant’s desalination unit ran on the older multi-stage flash technology.

Hassyan 1

Dubai achieved an important milestone in October when state utility Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (Dewa) and Saudi-headquartered Acwa Power signed a 30-year water-purchase agreement (WPA) and shareholder agreement for the Hassyan 1 IWP project.

Acwa Power will develop and operate the power plant for 30 years at a levelised water cost of 36.5 $cents a cubic metre, a record low, although not nearly as low as the tariff proposed by another developer when the contract was first tendered.

The project supports Dewa’s plan to increase its water desalination capacity from 490MIGD to 750MIGD by the end of the decade.

Dewa has said the Hassyan 1 IWP will be powered by solar energy, further reducing the plant’s carbon footprint.

In Abu Dhabi, the official signing of a WPA for the Shuweihat S4 SWRO project is imminent, which will add another 70MIGD to the emirate’s installed water production capacity once complete.

The Shuweihat 4 plant will cater to potable water demand in Abu Dhabi’s Al-Dhafra region, a key focus of Abu Dhabi’s economic development plan.

The bidding process is also under way for two more SWRO plants in Abu Dhabi. The Hudayriat and Saadiyat RO plants, each with a capacity of 50MIGD, will be developed as one IWP contract.

Emirates Water & Electricity Company (Ewec) has not mandated the inclusion of a solar photovoltaic (PV) plant for its most recent IWP projects, as it did for the Taweelah RO plant in 2019. However, it will likely tap either solar or nuclear energy, or both, for its upcoming SWRO plants in line with its goal to halve its total carbon dioxide emissions to 22 million tonnes a year by 2035.

The northern Sharjah emirate is also procuring its first IWP. The planned Hamriyah SWRO plant will have a capacity of 90MIGD.

In addition to the utility clients, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) has awarded the contract to develop the first phase of Project Wave, which aims to replace the aquifer water injection systems used to maintain reservoir pressure in Abu Dhabi's onshore oil fields.

The project is expected to reduce the water injection-related energy consumption of the oil fields by up to 30 per cent.

Wastewater

Dubai Municipality activated a major programme this year to develop deep tunnels and sewage treatment plants across the emirate. This long-term project could require an investment of up to AED80bn ($22bn).

Known as the Deep Tunnels Portfolio, the scheme will be developed as a public-private partnership (PPP) initiative and will expand the role of private companies in the emirate’s water infrastructure sector.

It involves the construction of two sets of deep tunnels terminating at two terminal pump stations located at sewerage treatment plants (STPs) in Warsan and Jebel Ali. A conventional sewage and drainage collection system and STPs will be built in Hatta. The scheme also includes recycled water distribution systems connected to the STPs.

Approved by Dubai’s Executive Council in June, the project has been designed to serve the needs of the Dubai population for the next 100 years in alignment with the Dubai Economic Agenda D33 and Dubai Urban Plan 2040.

In the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi Sustainable Water Solutions, formerly Abu Dhabi Sewerage Services Company, received bids for the contract to design, build and operate a planned TSE polishing plant in Al-Wathba earlier this year.

The plant is expected to have a design capacity of 700,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d), with the potential to expand this to 950,000 cm/d in a subsequent phase. The TSE facility will produce water for higher-end applications compared with TSE produced in a standard sewage treatment plant.

In addition to supporting the UAE’s long-term economic and demographic expansion, these water treatment projects also boost the country’s preferred circular carbon economy approach to energy transition.

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Jennifer Aguinaldo

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Houthi escalation targets Saudi airports
12 October 2026

Yemen’s Houthis have placed Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation infrastructure at the centre of their campaign against the kingdom. Two strikes on King Khalid International airport in Riyadh over the weekend killed 13 people and injured 320.

The deadlier attack hit a passenger terminal on the afternoon of 10 October. The General Authority of Civil Aviation (Gaca) said it killed 12 people, including four Saudi citizens, and injured 309. Airport operations were suspended pending a damage assessment.

A second strike hit Terminal 4 on the afternoon of 11 October, sparking a fire that killed a Pakistani resident and injured 11 others, according to Gaca. The Saudi-led coalition reported intercepting a cruise missile near the airport that afternoon. Gaca also reported an attack on King Fahd International airport in Dammam that evening, following a coalition report of a projectile falling near the facility the previous night.

The weekend strikes followed attacks on Abha International airport on 6 October and on King Khalid International airport on 7 and 8 October, the last of which included a strike on a Saudia aircraft. Gaca figures put the toll from the week’s attacks on Saudi airports at 19 dead and more than 350 injured.

The Houthis said they would continue operations inside the kingdom and that all Saudi airports were potential targets, with the exception of those serving the holy cities. The group says it is acting in response to Riyadh’s support for Yemeni government forces and a Saudi air strike on Sanaa airport. It has also claimed attacks on Saudi oil facilities, which Saudi authorities have not confirmed.

Aviation exposure

The attacks strike a sector central to the kingdom’s diversification plans. King Khalid International airport’s existing terminals are to be absorbed into King Salman International airport (KSIA), a 57-square-kilometre development with six parallel runways targeting a capacity of 120 million passengers by 2030 and 185 million by 2050.

Procurement on KSIA has gathered pace this year. In July, a joint venture of China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation and Dammam-based Mofarreh AlHarbi & Partners won an estimated SR800m ($213m) contract for enabling and substructure works on Terminal 6, which will add capacity for 40 million passengers. Turkish contractor IC Ictas and Saudi Arabia’s Al-Rashid Trading & Contracting recently secured a SR800m ($213m) contract for the airport’s Private Aviation Terminal.

Government-owned Saudi Royal Aviation set 8 October as the bid deadline for an estimated SR3bn ($800m) contract to build an aviation complex within the KSIA masterplan, the same day the Houthis struck King Khalid International airport and a Saudia aircraft.

Airlines have already adjusted. Flydubai cancelled flights to Riyadh and Yanbu up to 10 October and to Abha up to 11 October, and Etihad Airways reported extended delays on its Abu Dhabi to Riyadh service after the airport closed on 8 October. The UK Foreign Office has advised against all travel to areas within 10km of the Yemeni border.

Market reaction

The Saudi stock market’s response has been muted so far. The Tadawul main index fell 15.54 points to close at 10,360.74 on 11 October, the first trading session after the Saturday attack, with turnover of SR2.6bn ($693m). The session closed before the second strike on King Khalid International airport and the attack on Dammam, and Monday’s trading will be the first to reflect the full weekend.

The weekend also brought a separate maritime incident. UK Maritime Trade Operations said an oil tanker was struck by an unidentified projectile in the Strait of Hormuz on 11 October, with its crew reported safe.

Diplomatic response

The coalition described the 10 October attack as a war crime and said it would respond decisively. It said on 10 October that it had destroyed 136 military targets in Houthi-controlled areas and was working to dismantle the group’s ballistic missile network.

Egypt, Pakistan and Turkiye joined Saudi Arabia in an R4 group statement condemning the attacks and supporting measures taken by the kingdom in response. The Arab League also voiced its support for Saudi Arabia. On 11 October, Iran’s foreign minister spoke by telephone with his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal Bin Farhan, to discuss the escalation. The US and UK have also signalled the possibility of further support for the kingdom.

The escalation comes against the backdrop of the regional conflict, which has drawn Saudi Arabia into a renewed Yemen front after several years of relative calm following the 2022 ceasefire. The extent of the damage at King Khalid International airport, which Gaca is still assessing, and the speed at which international carriers resume full schedules will determine how far the attacks disrupt the kingdom’s aviation programme.

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Colin Foreman
Egypt and Saudi Arabia sign oil and gas deal
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Egypt and Saudi Arabia have signed an agreement to strengthen cooperation in the oil, natural gas and petrochemicals sectors, according to a statement from Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum & Mineral Resources.

The memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed in Riyadh by Karim Badawi, Egypt’s minister of petroleum and mineral resources, and Abdulaziz Bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s minister of energy.

Under the agreement, both sides will enhance cooperation in trading, transporting, storing and distributing crude oil, petroleum products and natural gas.

They will also expand cooperation on developing the infrastructure and logistics services that support these activities.

In its statement, Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum & Mineral Resources said: “These efforts will contribute to improving energy market efficiency, enhancing the resilience and reliability of supply chains, and strengthening energy security.”

The MoU also provides for expanded cooperation in exchanging expertise and best practices in operating and developing fuel stations, as well as in transporting and tracking petroleum products and liquefied petroleum gas cylinders.

Additionally, the agreement seeks to explore investment opportunities in joint projects and promote exports.

The latest agreement comes as Egypt becomes an increasingly important export route for Saudi Arabia.

Due to disruptions and security risks affecting shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, Saudi Arabia has been redirecting crude exports via its East-West Pipeline to Yanbu on the Red Sea.

Meanwhile, the Bab El-Mandeb Strait, at the southern end of the Red Sea, has also become a security concern due to military activity in Yemen. Egypt offers an alternative route through the Sumed pipeline, which runs from Ain Sokhna on the Red Sea to Sidi Kerir on the Mediterranean.

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Wil Crisp
JGC yet to return evacuated workers to Basra refinery
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Japan’s JGC has yet to bring evacuated workers back to the Basra refinery project in Iraq, according to industry sources.

JGC evacuated its personnel from the site in the southern oil hub of Basra following the start of the regional conflict on 28 February, when the US and Israel attacked Iran.

The evacuation halted work on the project, which was in its final construction stage.

On 14 August 2026, Iraq’s Ministry of Oil announced that it had signed an agreement with JGC to resume work on the fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) project at Basra refinery.

One source said: “Even though the agreement to bring the evacuated workers back was signed about two months ago, there is still no sign of the evacuated workers on the project site.

“It is possible that they will return soon, but it is hard to tell what will happen next in the current security environment.”

Earlier this month, Iraq’s Ministry of Oil said it met with Japanese officials to discuss plans to commission the FCC unit under the Basra refinery upgrade project.

The statement did not say when the evacuated JGC workers would return to the project site.

Strategic project

Iraq’s state-owned South Refineries Company (SRC) sent JGC notice of the main contract award for the FCC package of the Basra refinery upgrade project in August 2020.

JGC was awarded the contract in consortium with South Korea’s Hyundai E&C.

The official contract signing ceremony was held in Baghdad on 1 October 2020.

The contract awarded to JGC, which uses the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning model, was worth $3.78bn.

The FCC package is part of a broader project to upgrade the Basra refinery.

The project site is located about 12 kilometres east of Iraq’s southern city of Basra.

The wider upgrade project involves installing new facilities on land adjacent to the existing Basra refinery, including a vacuum distillation unit and a diesel desulphurisation unit.

In April 2021, France’s Axens won a contract in Iraq to provide four process technologies to SRC for the Basra refinery upgrade project.

The technologies that SRC selected are:
- Diesel hydrotreatment unit (Prime-D)
- Vacuum gasoil (VGO) hydrotreating unit
- VGO fluid catalytic cracker unit
- Oligomerisation unit (polynaphtha)
In addition, Axens is providing catalysts and adsorbents, proprietary equipment, training and technical services.

MEED’s latest report on Iraq includes:

> COMMENT: Iraq’s reform window narrows
> GOVERNMENT: Al-Zaidi takes Iraq’s premiership under US shadow
> BANKING: Financial challenge tests Iraq’s resolve
> ECONOMY: Iraq enters era of resilience, reform and rising risks
> OIL & GAS: Iraqi oil and gas sector in crisis
> POWER & WATER: Focus shifts to delivery of Iraq utilities expansion
> CONSTRUCTION: Momentum builds in Iraq’s post-war construction sector

To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
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Contractors prepare Jordan stadium prequalification

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Contractors are preparing to submit prequalification statements on 14 October for a contract to build Jordan’s Al-Hussein Bin Abdullah II International Stadium, located east of the capital, Amman.

The project is part of the first phase of the Amra City development masterplan and is being implemented by Jordan Cities & Facilities Development Company, a Jordan Investment Fund-owned company.

Main works are expected to begin early next year, with the stadium slated for completion in 2029.

The project will cover about 1 million square metres, and the stadium will seat 50,000 spectators.

The stadium is being built within the Amra City development, which is located about 40 kilometres (km) from downtown Amman and 35km from Zarqa and Queen Alia International airport.

MEED reported that preliminary excavation and site preparation began in June.

The project forms part of Jordan’s Economic Modernisation Vision (EMV) 2023-25.

The EMV – Amman’s flagship reform programme – aims to increase real income per capita by an average of 3% annually, create 1 million jobs and more than double the country’s GDP over the next decade.

The strategy envisages a leading role for the private sector, which is expected to account for 73% of the estimated $58.8bn investment required.

READ THE OCTOBER 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF

Industry and logistics drive development at Neom; Saudi Arabia’s investment priorities realign amid conflict; MEED’s 2026 power developer ranking.

Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the October 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:

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> POWER: AI is creating a grid capacity problem

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> LEADERSHIP: The future city does not need to hang above the ground

To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here

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Abu Dhabi plans Mussafah road upgrades

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Abu Dhabi’s Department of Municipalities and Transport (DMT) has announced plans to upgrade roads in Mussafah, improving links between the industrial area, Mohamed Bin Zayed City and Zayed City.

The scheme covers about 13 kilometres of roads on the E30 and 8th Street. It aims to reduce congestion, improve road safety and cut journey times.

The works include a new three-lane highway in each direction along 8th Street, with parallel three-lane service roads on both sides providing access to local businesses and facilities.

The upgraded corridor is expected to accommodate up to 4,000 vehicles an hour.

Other works include upgrades to four E30 interchanges, improved links to 8th Street and the E20, and modifications to nine junctions.

The DMT also plans to build two bridges connecting Mussafah and Mohamed Bin Zayed City, along with a pedestrian bridge.

Abu Dhabi is planning major investments to upgrade its road network across the emirate.

Last week, it disclosed plans for a major new transport corridor in the capital, comprising a 37km coastal route linking Al-Hudayriyat Island with the E11 at Al-Nouf.

It is planned to have three lanes in each direction and will include a tunnel, about 7km of marine bridges and about 4km of causeways.

The scheme will provide a direct connection between Al-Dhafra, Al-Hudayriyat Island and Abu Dhabi Island via Halat Al-Bahrani, Al-Futaisi and Al-Aryam islands.