Abengoa SA (Seville, Spain) has achieved the production of the first permeate, that is, obtaining the first desalinated water, at the 600,000-m3/d desalination plant that it is building in the city of Rabigh, in Saudi Arabia
This important milestone occurred during the operational tests included in the commissioning phase of the plant that is currently under construction, and represents a further step towards its commercial operation.
The Rabigh desalination plant will guarantee the supply of drinking water to more than three million people in the cities of Makkah Al-Mokarramah, Jeddah and Mastorah. It is an important reference in the desalination sector not only because it is the largest reverse osmosis desalination plant in Saudi Arabia to date, but also because it is an example of innovation and sustainability in its design and construction, which allows it to reduce the energy consumption and increase plant availability.
So far, Rabigh 3 has exceeded 4.5 million safe man hours, achieving the highest levels of safety standards and meeting the established health and safety objectives.
The engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for this project was awarded to a consortium of Abengoa, SEPCOIII (Power China) and SIDEM (Veolia) in 2018. The commissioning of this plant is scheduled for the first quarter of 2022, complying with the deadline agreed with ACWA Power. Upon completion of the project, the desalinated water will be supplied to the state-owned Saudi Water Partnership Company (SWPC).
Abengoa is a leading company in the international desalination market. Recently it has completed the construction of the 113,500 m3/d Salalah desalination plant in Oman and continues to build projects as relevant as the world’s largest reverse osmosis desalination plant, located in the Taweelah water and power generation complex, with a production capacity of 909,000 m3/d. Abengoa currently has an installed desalination capacity of 1.8 million m3/d, which will be expanded to 4.3 million when the portfolio will be completed.